Glad You Called
by DragonScouter
Summary: Fifty Stellar cycles before the catastrophic events on Archa 7, the newly appointed Sentinel Prime is finishing up a homework assignment when, to his surprise, his personal communication screen lights up. What Sentinel didn't know what that, by accepting that call, his fate will be changed forever. Rated T because I am paranoid.
1. Prologue Part 1: A Mysterious Call

**AN: I only own my OCs.**

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 **Authoress: While normally the beginning of the story is boring for me (since I can't bring anybot in until after this) this story is different because I am opening up a new can of crazy! Sentinel as a...*covers mouth* *smirks***

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Prologue Part 1: A Mysterious Call

 **Sentinel Prime's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"What is the role of the tactician?" I read the question out loud as I studied it. Having recently been made a Prime, I was diving into my books to make sure that I knew how I was going to pick my team. So, to help with that, I had asked the old bot who taught the advanced team-building course here at the Academy if I could possibly do some of his homework assignments about the different kinds of bots and how they would affect a team.

…No, I wasn't some data-nerd like Optimus was. Not even close. But, I wanted to have the best team that I could possible get. That meant that a little extra homework was necessary…crucial even. Optimus was already looking into some bots to put on his team. He even tried asking me! Me! Like I would let him continue to be the boss over me. Once I had at least three bots under me, I was going to make my own team and break away from Optimus and Elita.

They were…alright for bots. But, Optimus was too indecisive on what he wanted. At one point, he would seem like a goodie-two-pede bot doing everything by the rules but, at another nano, he would be going off about crazy ideas that would go against the rules completely. He even once had Elita and I sneak into the off-limits sector of Kaon with him. Besides the fact that I didn't want to have Optimus in charge of me, I didn't want a bot like that on my team, whether he was the leader or I was.

Then of course, there was Elita. She was a nice femme and all, but she was really clingy. Stuck to Optimus like he was her very reason for existence. Seriously. The femme needed a better main hobby than making Optimus her personal magnet. Then, when Optimus would show her some attention…the idiot, Elita would act like she was the most oblivious femme out there. Seriously, I didn't know many other femmes…actually I only knew her…and if all femmes were like here than I didn't want to meet anymore.

I was pretty sure that my processor wouldn't be able to handle it.

Shaking my helm, I returned to the question that was on the data-pad in front of me. After thinking about the qualities of a tactician, I began to type as I spoke out loud. "The strategist and battle leader, the tactician issues commands on the battle field and expects them to be followed. The bot who has the role of tactician observes the battlefield, both physical and mental, and devises strategies based off of the information that he has available." Once I had that typed, I submitted it and moved on to the next class of bot.

"The Scout. Scouts work to obtain, distribute, and share vital combat and battlefield information. A scout should be able to work with the tactician on a decent level if the team is to make any headway. A Scout, also known as the 'optics and audios' of any team, can obtain the information they need with little to know trouble, and a good scout can train those around them in the same field."

Now, a scout would be useful. But, I had to be careful in picking a scout. If they couldn't work with the other bots I eventually picked for my team, then we would have too many problems coming up and that could cause my team battlefield hold-ups and that could create great damage for our cause.

However, there were two more classes of bot that I wanted to submit before I went to recharge for the night. This assignment wasn't due for another ten solars and I was already almost halfway done with it. So, I figured it was best to take my time with it.

"What every team should strive to have is a battle medic. It is the duty of the battle medic to make sure that the bots under their care come back online and in as few pieces as possible. In the midst of a battle, the medic must be able to have the ability to both heal their allies and defend said injured allies if a force tries to attack them. Battle medics have the ability to make on the field decisions and, thus, should have a workable relationship with the leader of the team as well as the tactician." So I was going to have to find a medic that I could get along with on a working level that would also be able to work with whatever bot I can find for a tactician…if I decide to get one.

The average Cybertronian battle team had five bots to them, and that included the team leader. There were, of course, more classes than five and that meant that a bot had to choose their team wisely. While I knew that a battle medic was a necessity that I wanted on my team, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to fill the other at least three spots on my team with.

Some teams, like the Wreckers, focused almost solely on gathering strong fighters who would take insane missions. That meant that there wasn't much variability to their team. But, not many teams could match the Wreckers in brute strength and numbers. They were one of the exceptions to the average of five. Last I heard, the Wreckers had twenty five bots. I had seen them walking around downtown Iacon once. They acted like the planet owed them Cybertron on a silver platter. Really annoying to be honest.

Thankfully, while they were a force to be reckoned with when they were on Cybertron, there was a special team that everybot knew about. It was another team that was made of warriors, but this team had been constructed in a different manner than the Wreckers. This team was known as the Guardians. Last I kept track of, there were five Guardians. Didn't seem like much compared to the Wreckers. But, what they lacked in numbers they made up with skill. Their team, while all warriors, also held training in other fields that helped round out their team.

My goal was to have a very rounded out team that would be able to support each other in the midst of a battle. It would do me no good to take bots who just goofed around and didn't work together. Teamwork was essential for fighting the Decepticons and my team would need to be able to work as a team as efficiently as we could.

Shaking my processor out of future plans, I went to the last class of bot that I wanted to look at for the night. "The warrior class. A very battle oriented class that has its own subdivisions based on the bots individual skill set. The warrior can lead a charge against the enemy front lines and can act as a defensive barrier as the rest of your team organizes. As there is such a versatile use for a warrior, a team leader must pick out their warrior, or warriors, carefully. As some of the strongest bots on a team, if not the strongest, a warrior can force control away from the team leader. However, as an ally, the warrior class bots can be a leader's greatest ally. Team leaders should pick a warrior who they can, not only trust, but get along with since both depend on the other to keep them safe."

After I finished typing up my summary of a warrior, I sent it in to the old bot along with the other definitions that I wrote for the night. This was one subject that I knew I would get good marks in. Plus, with this subject under my rep, I knew I would be given a better quality of bots to choose from than those that didn't take this class.

I moved to close all of my monitors down when, to my surprise, my personal communication screen lit up on my desk. What was going on? Glancing at my internal clock, I saw that it was only ten clicks until the official start of the next solar. Who, besides me, would be up this late? Maybe it was the old bot professor with a comment about the stuff that I just sent him. Teachers were up late so it wouldn't be that farfetched of a reason.

But, there was really only one way to know for sure. So, setting up the stand on the back of the screen, I hit accept. At first, the screen was blurry and I couldn't make out anything about the bot on the other side. However, after a few clicks, I could see that this bot, whoever they were, were in some sort of cave. Since the only caves that looked like this…that were on Cybertron, were the energon mines, I figured it must be one of the night miners and they misdialed me.

"H…Hello? Is there anybot receiving this?" The voice on the other side was a femme and seemed very shaken. What was going on? Femmes didn't call me. Plus, I didn't know that many femmes outside of Elita-One. So, who was this calling? Maybe a friend of hers?

Realizing that there would only be one way to find out, I answered the femme's voice, though I still couldn't see her on the screen. "Yes, this is Sentinel M…Prime. Who is this?" I almost said Major. It was still strange getting used to the different title.

On the other side of the screen, I heard a sigh of relief before the helm of a femme came into view. She had a black helm with lime green sensory nodes on top of her helm. I could see that her light gray faceplate was a little damaged and her lime green optics looked hesitant on the other side. "My designation is Pandimala."

Pandimala. Not a designation I was familiar with but, again, I didn't know many femmes. "Where are you calling from? I don't recognize anything around you." I asked the femme on the other side. What? While I had somebot to talk to, I had best take advantage of the situation.

The screen was moved away from her faceplate slightly and I saw that she was worried. "I…I'm not sure. There was an explosion on a ship and, next thing I know, I'm on this strange planet. The surface is covered in a rust like powder and the area around me is a rocky terrain. You wouldn't happen to know where I could be, do you?"

Unfortunately, I didn't. While I had been off-world a few times, thanks to my training to be a Prime, I didn't recognize the sort of environment that this 'Pandimala' was talking about. So, I had to shake my helm. "Sorry. That doesn't sound familiar at all."

I flinched at the disappointed sound that the femme made before she spoke. "It's alright I guess. I was hoping on a long shot anyways…of course it was a longshot that I got a response on this thing. I've been trying to get a connection for the past three cycles."

Wow! Three cycles of trying to raise a bot for hopeful help on a communicator that was in who knew what condition was pretty impressive. But, she still looked upset and, even though I couldn't help get her off of whatever planet she was stuck on, I could find out about her. "So…what do you like to do for fun?"

She looked at me with an amused look before she chuckled and responded. "Well, I guess I really like to practice my swordplay."

"Swordplay? So you are a warrior?" I asked her immediately, now really curious. After just completing the part of the assignment about warriors, I was kinda curious to see if she was one.

Pandimala made a so-so motion with her servo, which I noted was black and had sharp digits. "Well, I'm a warrior in training. Before this…I was training with my trainer on how to be a dual sword wielder."

Two swords? I really hadn't heard of many warrior class bots being dual-bladed. "Really? Isn't that kind of risky for a warrior class?"

In return, she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess it could be. But, I wasn't created with a shield and I was created with two swords. So, my trainer decided to give me lessons in dual wielding. It's a lot of work but, when I'm older, I know that it'll pay off." She then motioned to me. "What about you? What sort of class are you working toward? And what weapons do you have?"

I guess it was only fair that I tell her about me. "I really want to be a team leader and make the best team that I can. As for my weapons, I have a lance like sword that I was created with called Stormbringer and I was also created with a shield that I call Skyboom. It can repel attacks and even expand to cover my allies."

"That's so cool!" Pandimala responded to my description of my weapons. She then let out a small laugh. "Kinda makes me jealous that I don't have cool names for my swords." While she looked like she wanted to continue, a sound from her side had Pandimala pause. "I…I have to move. I don't know what that was and I need to be ready to fight if I have to." She then seemed nervous before she continued. "Um…if it wouldn't be too much trouble, can I call you tomorrow night?"

"S…sure." I responded hesitantly before shaking my helm and nodding positively. "Yeah, that would be cool. It was nice meeting you Pandimala. Talk to you tomorrow."

"It was nice meeting you too Sentinel Prime. Talk to you tomorrow." She then hung up her side of the line.

…That wasn't how I imagined I would spend my night cycles. But, it was a lot of fun and I almost couldn't wait for the call tomorrow night. I should be back here by this time and then I could ask Pandimala some more questions. There were so many things that I wanted to know about her and I knew that there were probably things she was going to want to ask me.

Making my way to my berth, I reclined back before starting my recharge procedures. While my systems started to shut down, I took one more click to think about the femme I had just talked to. I hoped she was alright. There were many planets out there that would be dangerous for even Cybertronians to be stuck on. Once we figured out where she was, I would pull whatever resources I could to go and save her. She didn't seem like the same kind of femme that Elita was and that mean that I had to stay her friend…well at least for now.

My thoughts then drifted off as I found the sweet release of recharge.

 **The Next Night**

"Sentinel what's wrong?" Optimus asked me as the three of us left the strategy analysis class we all signed up for. The class was three cycles long and I was glad to be out of it. Our instructor drew out his class like it was his life mission. Figures the one solar I actually try to pay attention to him and he drones on like a broken recording of Perceptor.

But, back to what Optimus asked. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with me." I asked him back.

Both he and Elita shared a glance before they turned to me. "Sentinel, you almost never pay attention in that class. Well, I mean, none of us really pay attention all that much. Even Optimus here. But, this solar you were even taking notes. Do you have some virus?"

Really? I actually try to pay attention to a class and they are worried? This made me even more excited to talk to Pandimala tonight. Even though I didn't know much about her, she didn't seem like the idiots who were in front of me. To answer Elita though. "No! I don't have a virus! Sheesh Elita you would think that I would get something like that checked out." I then shook my helm before continuing. "Sometimes I wonder how you made it to Prime with us."

"Hey! Take that back Sentinel." Elita pouted. When I shook my helm, she sighed. "Whatever. So, answer the question. What's up with you this solar?"

Well, in all honesty, Pandimala's plight got me thinking. What would happen if an accident happened and I ended up stuck on an unknown planet? Would I really be able to survive? Before last night, I would have said yes. I was completely ready for whatever situation was thrown at me. But, last night really got me thinking. Like Elita and Optimus noted, I usually didn't pay attention in the classes that I had, though I could usually scrape by with an average mark in the class, and the classes that we were taking were meant to help prepare us for situations that could be similar to the one that Pandimala was in.

But, since I didn't want Elita and Optimus to know about Pandimala yet, I decided to give a somewhat round-about answer. "I just don't want to have something happen and not be prepared for it. If I'm going to make a good team leader one solar I need to be ready for anything. So, I figured the best way for me to do that would be to actually pay attention as old Trailstrike rambled on this solar."

What I wasn't expecting was for both Optimus and Elita to chuckle before Elita spoke. "Really Sentinel? You're starting to sound like those old rust buckets now. 'You youngsters need to heed our words because you could get in trouble one solar that our lessons could help save you from.'. Seriously Sentinel. Get the pipe out of your aft and relax. We won't need most of the stuff they are teaching us anyways."

I needed to get the pipe out of my aft? No what they needed to do was open their processors and realize that the situations that the teachers talked about really could happen. My processor flashed back to Pandimala's worried look before we hung up last night and I knew that she was scared about what was around her. I never wanted to be in that situation un-prepared.

I went to yell at Elita about taking their words more seriously when Optimus stepped in. "Hey, calm down both of you." While I wanted to continue on arguing with the femme in front of me, Optimus standing there made it slightly hard to do. So, I crossed my arms and looked away. Well, if they wanted to end up in that situation one solar than at least I could say that I tried to help them. "Sentinel, we are going to head over to Maccadams for a pint. Want to join us?"

Really? Trailstrike just assigned us a twenty-page assignment due in three solars about battle tactics during the fighting here on Cybertron against the Decepticons and they wanted to go and get a drink? Well, with my planned call to Pandimala, I knew what my answer was going to be. "No thanks. I want to get started on that assignment that we have due here soon."

Turning to walk away, I heard Elita's pedesteps try to follow me. "Come on Sentinel what's gotten into you? You're like a,"

"Elita enough. Let him do what he wants. We offered and he refused. That's all there is to it." Optimus stopped Elita from coming after me. It was good that he did too because I was about to turn around and give Elita a piece of my processor.

But, since he did, I just continued to walk in silence until I got back to my apartment building. Once there, I went up to my room and, once I closed the door, I went over to my main monitor and started to work on the assignment that was due. I figured that Pandimala would call me when she got a free click and so, while I was waiting, I was going to make sure that I got as much of this assignment finished as possible. My goal was to get at least five pages of the assignment typed today. If I kept on that track, then I would be able to get the assignment finished in the allotted time that Trailbreak gave to us. I really wanted to make sure that I started doing good in my classes. If I ended up stranded like Pandimala was right now, then I wanted the training to survive. It really scared me that a situation like the one that she was in could happen.

And the first move that I could do on my part would be to work on this assignment for my strategy analysis class. So, I dove right into the assignment. It didn't take me long to get to page three but, after that, I got stuck. So, I had to go over my notes and, even then, I only squeezed out page four. Scrap. I needed page five before Pandimala called. I really needed to get my act together.

I was about to try and struggle through said page when my personal communication screen lit up. This had to be Pandimala because I was pretty sure that Elita was too mad at me right now to call, though I really didn't care, and Optimus was probably with Elita and she wouldn't let him call. So, I quickly stood the screen up so I could see and picked up the call. Like last time, the screen was momentarily blurry before the screen cleared. This time, however, Pandimala's faceplate was showing on the screen.

"Hi Sentinel!" Pandimala greeted me happily. I smiled and forgot about my argument with Elita and Optimus.

However, while she was happy, I noticed some scrapes on the side of her helm. "What happened? Are you alright?" I then motioned to the side of her helm.

She looked confused for a nano before her optics widened in realization slightly. "Oh yeah. I was scouting out a cave to recharge in and the cliffside broke apart. Slid down the side of that cliff so fast that I thought that I was going to catch on fire due to the friction." She chuckled at that but I wasn't finding her situation funny.

"What are you laughing at? You could have been really hurt!" I asked her in confusion.

Pandimala stopped chuckling and seemed to study me for a click before asking me a strange question. "For your classes, have you taken a strategy analysis class?"

Why was she asking me this? What did strategy analysis have to do with the situation that she was in? "Yeah, I'm taking it right now. Why?"

She motioned around her, I was guessing to amplify the area she was in. "When you are stranded, or holed up by the enemy, one of the worst things that you can do is fall into worry about the situation you are in. Stay on guard, yeah, that is fine. But, don't let small mishaps put you down. What good would getting upset about my chassis getting scratched up do me right now? I'm on an unknown planet alone and I have to get energon to help me survive. Trust me, it's no picnic staying in a cave with little ventilation. Been causing my claustrophobia to act on the fritz." I then noticed that she visibly shuttered.

Wait, that was what I needed to get that fifth page done. It would finish up my opening argument and later, in the assignment, it would be a great point to argue and help me fill in pages. While Pandimala's situation wasn't the best, it was helping me get my assignment finished. Sounded terrible in my processor but it was true. Plus, as Pandimala just pointed out, it was a positive way to look at a bad situation. "Thanks for the insight. You just helped me finish the fifth page of my twenty-page assignment in said strategy analysis class."

She let out a laugh, which caused me to laugh too, before she spoke. "Well, then I am glad that I could give you some help on your assignment."

We both laughed for a bit before something that she said earlier suddenly clicked in my processor. It seemed stupid that I didn't catch it before but it wasn't something that I was used to. "What's claustrophobia?" I hadn't heard of it before and, in the entrance medical class I took, it wasn't mentioned. Well…at least I didn't pay attention if it was and it wasn't important for the exams in that class.

Again, Pandimala gave me a confused look. But, unlike last time, this look stayed on her faceplate when she answered me. "It's a fear of enclosed spaces. I usually panic like no other when there isn't a proper air-flow in a place that I am staying. Bots like my make are really affected by it." She then paused. "Have you really never heard of claustrophobia?"

Shaking my helm, I decided to ask her another question. "No. If they mentioned it during my introductory medical class, they didn't make a big deal about it." I then tried to look at her better before asking said question. "What sort of bot are you?"

Pandimala looked at me for a click before she seemed to mess with her monitor before she seemed to scoot back and, after she did, my optics widened when I finally saw her completely. While she was taller than I expected, and the fact that she was a war build, since I could see cannons coming out from behind her shoulders, was sending warning alarms ringing in my helm, the only thing that my processor would let me focus on was the fact that she had wings. Wings. There was only one kind of bot that I knew of that had wings…and it wasn't good. "I'm a triple changer. Is that a problem?" She seemed really worried about my opinion about what sort of build she was.

While a part of me wanted to reassure her that I didn't mind, the stronger part of my processor was on high alert. I had to find out more important information on Pandimala…and now. "I don't know. You're a flyer…are you a Decepticon?"

I felt surprise when her optics narrowed and she shook her helm. She had brought the screen closer to her again so the motion was really noticeable. "No. I was created by two Decepticons but I ran away with a neutral trader that came to our planet. He came to our planet every so often and I always thought that he was kinda short compared to me, but other bots told me that he was tall. He was a faded dark blue color with orange and lime green markings. His designation was Swiftfire and he was also my trainer on dual-blade wielding. He was tinkering with one of his inventions when the explosion happened. I…I don't think he made it." Her voice drifted off at that and I felt a twinge of pain in my spark for her.

And, thankfully, I had heard of Swiftfire. I had asked Councilmech Alpha Trion, for an assignment on the history of the Great War, on whether there were bots who left the Decepticons. He answered me that, while none of the turncoats from the Decepticons came to the Autobots, there were some who went to become neutral and made vows to stay neutral for the rest of the conflict between us Autobots and the Decepticons. One bot in particular that he mentioned was Swiftfire and said that he would take the risk and go to Decepticon heavy planets and pull bots who want to be either neutral or Autobots out of harm's way. Alpha Trion had even mentioned his color scheme so I knew that Pandimala was telling the truth.

She…did she want to be neutral or did she want to become an Autobot? Figuring that there was only one way to find out, I asked her. "Pandimala…did you leave your family because you wanted to be a neutral or an Autobot?"

In return, she seemed to calm down before she answered. "I'm…not sure. I ran away wanting to be neutral, because I had heard so many things about the Autobots from when I was younger, that I was scared to even consider being a part of their faction." She then paused and I noticed that she smiled shyly. "But, with these two talks I've had with you…I'm not sure." She then stopped herself again. "You are an Autobot right?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it. With my normal life here on Cybertron, that seemed like a simple thing to answer. But, I had to remember that she was from a Decepticon family…and planet, and so she wouldn't have too many Autobots hanging out. From how she was talking, I was even the first Autobot she met! I was glad I was making a good first impression. However, even though I was still laughing, I had to answer her. "Yeah 'Mala I'm an Autobot. I'll have you converted fully before you get rescued from there and we can have the chance to meet in the bot."

Immediately I felt hesitation. Scrap! I had just called her a nickname even though we had only known each other for a solar…and had only talked for maybe six cycles. When I accidently called Elita 'Lita'…she had tried to tear my faceplate off…and that was in every literal sense possible. I was fearing my continued existence at that point. I was such an idiot when it came to these things. Maybe I needed to talk to femmes more often? Get used to talking to them before Pandimala eventually got to come here. That sounded like a good idea.

"I'll hold you to that Sen!" She answered me with a wide smile before she dove into a story about one of the times that Swiftfire visited. While she did, I found myself deciding something important. Until Pandimala was safe and maybe even here on Cybertron, I wouldn't tell anybot else about her. They could react the wrong way and I didn't want Pandimala to have to go through that.

I had a feeling that tonight marked the beginning of a great friendship with Pandimala and I could barely wait to meet her.

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 **Authoress: Yes! I get to write a story where Sentinel is a good bot! Oh this is going to be so much fun and I really can't wait to get this moving!**

 **Sentinel: *sighs* You know, you don't have to sound so amazed that you get to write me as a good bot. I normally am a good bot. You're just a twisted Decepticon fan who has to tear down the stronger pillars of the Autobots.**

 **Authoress: *gives knowing stare***

 **Sentinel...*gives up* Fine! I may not always be the strongest argument for being an Autobot but at least I am one! That's more than I can say for you Authoress...you little Decepticon lover. *shudders***

 **Authoress: *smiles widely* Guilty as charged!**

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 **AN: And here is an amazing new story that is taking a turn from everything that I have ever done! I hope you are all liking this so far. This idea has been floating in my head for days and I just wanted to get it out and, now that I have, I am really excited. However, before I get too into my excitement, I feel like there are some things about the story that I need to explain.**

 **The first noticeable thing is that Sentinel is going to be a good bot. Not arrogant, not judgmental, and not stuck up (and no shady deals). My argument for doing this will be more explained after the second part of the prologue. But, for now I will say that I believe there was a certain point in Sentinel's past that changed him into the arrogant, evil, stupid, annoying bot that we all know and hate. I'm changing the tides.**

 **Secondly is the attitude of Optimus. While I know that he is normally a bookworm and studious bot in the show, I decided to make him the mech to take the most risks. I didn't change Optimus completely but I feel like he would serve my purposes better as the more adventurous of the two mechs.**

 **As for Elita...well, we didn't get to know her too well and so I have decided to make her very attached to Optimus and very immature at the moment. She wants things her way and gets upset when they aren't so. It won't be as extreme in later chapters as it is here but, remember, this is the prologue.**

 **Now that I think I have most of the issues out of the way...*squeals* This was so much fun! And it seems like Sentinel is a little awkward when talking to femmes (Sentinel told me to tell you all that Elita doesn't count as a femme...and now Elita is chasing Sentinel around...*facepalm*) Anyways, I plan to have a lot of fun with this story and I hope you all stick around with me while I do so. Also seems like Sentinel is trying to figure out what his team is going to be like. I wonder what sort of bots he will have?**

 **Well, I guess that is all for now. I should let you all go after such a long authoress note. So, I'll end with asking for you all to review, even to say hello, so I know that you all are out there. Flames will be used to heat up the smelting pits so I can throw the senders in said pits. *dark laugh* Well, until next time, TTYL! *singing about a sharp dressed man***


	2. Prologue Part 2: Into the Spider's Web

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

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 **Authoress: Hello my little pretties! This looks like it is going to be fun! *evil giggling***

 **Sentinel: *gulps* I'm not sure what I am more worried about; the evil part of that or the giggling. You don't giggle. Authoress you HATE giggling...What did you do?**

 **Authoress: *hides tears* I...I...I didn't mean...I'm...**

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Prologue Part 2: Into the Spider's Web

 **Fifty Stellar Cycles Later**

 **Sentinel's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

Fifty stellar cycles. It was strange to think that was how long that I had known Pandimala. After that second night, we were so much open with each other. We would have fun talks to help distract ourselves from the issue of Pandimala being stranded on a strange planet. But, at the same time, I made sure to keep track of Pandimala's condition. During the first stellar cycle, I was afraid that Pandimala would run out of energon and offline due to a lack of it. But, Pandimala continued to stay positive and, fifty stellar cycles later, we still talked every night that Pandimala could safely talk.

"Sentinel get your helm out of the sky and help us load the ship." Elita yelled at me as she moved some crates on board the ship that was nearby.

Unfortunately, I had yet to find any bots that would make good teammates. Oh, I had looked at a lot of bots who the Academy suggested would be good additions to any team. Some had even seemed good at first. But, I would ask Pandimala her opinion on the bots that I liked and she seemed to have a knack for telling what a bot was like just by what their basic files read. Every single time, she had been right.

One femme, who I was looking at as a medic, seemed to be a very nice femme and a good candidate to be on my team. But, when I had read her file to Pandimala, she said that the femme seemed to have ties to black market dealers due to the numbers in her credit accounts, of which she had many, having small deposits made into them on the same solar at the same time. When I suggested that something was wrong with the femme's accounts, the ICD…or Internal Crimes Division, investigated her and found that Pandimala was right. Not only was the medic working with the black market, she was a direct supplier of illegal drugs to addicts in recovery.

There were a few more cases like that over these fifty stellars but most of them just weren't what I was looking for. Some of these bots were counted as the best of the best in their field. But, they weren't what I was looking for in a team that would be with me for thousands of stellars at the very least. It was slightly upsetting that I couldn't get a team together yet, but at least I had Pandimala to help me get through all the stress that the extra classes had put on me. While being a Prime meant that we were technically graduated from the Academy, it was highly recommended to take supplementary classes to help provide us with more knowledge for the future. Well, with Pandimala helping me choose classes that she would recommend I take, I ended up with quite a course load over these fifty stellars. While most classes only lasted a stellar, though some were more…like that strategy analysis class that was a stellar and a half long, some were less…like the History of Cybertron's Mythology class that was only one hundred and fifty solar cycles. I still wasn't sure why Pandimala wanted me to take that one but she did say that she would tell me when we met one solar. Hopefully, that would be soon. Maybe once I figured out what planet she was on, then she could help me kickstart my team by being the first bot on it.

Of course, I wasn't the only one who was getting 'training'. Pandimala mentioned frequently that she had to fight some strange mutated organics on the planet that she was trapped on and, of course finding the positive in that situation, Pandimala said that she was getting precious battle experience for her training as a warrior. She hoped that, by the time that she met me, that I could convince her to be an Autobot so she could help me out

But, this solar was not going to going to be nearly as fun as it should be. Before last night, I had been planning on spending this solar going to the scouting academy to see if I could find a scout for my team. But, during an assembly of the Primes last night, Optimus' team was chosen to have space exploration practice. Since I was technically still a part of Optimus' team, that meant that I had to come too. It was fragging annoying that I had to go out with them. I was hoping that I would have my team by now and I would go on one of these with them. But nope. Stuck with Elita and Optimus.

This solar was not going to end well.

Shaking my helm, I moved to help Elita load the last of the energon supply. We were supposed to transport a shipment of energon to the forces fighting near planet Vehicon. The two types of Cybertronians on the planet, the Eradicons and the Obliticons, were putting a lot of support to our fighters there and we were to bring them a new shipment of energon. It would only take us fifteen clicks to reach the space bridge to arrive in the Skellion system, where Vehicon was at. Then, it was a three-cycle trip from our space bridge location, and a slightly graving of traveling through the Archa system, before we reached Vehicon.

Thankfully, from the History of Foreign Wars class that I took…which was another suggestion from Pandimala, I knew that the planet Vehicon was still trying to recover from their Machine War. Their Machine War was what they called the battling that they experienced on their home world during the Great War. That meant that the planet was still recovering from the last round of fighting that our war caused them and this energon would help us smooth relations with the leader of planet Vehicon.

Once I reached the last crate of energon, I helped Elita push it onto our ship, which was called the Scarab. From what I knew, our ship was a retired ship from the Great War and was named after the ship's first captain; Scarabin Major. It looked like it wouldn't last ten clicks in an actual battle but it should do alright for a simple energon delivery trip.

Elita and I soon got the crate in place and, once it was, I turned to her. "So, ready for this flight?"

She raised an optic ridge at me before shaking her helm. "I just want to get this done and get back here. I had a dinner date with Optimus planned for tonight and, if we hurry, we should get back in time for me to get to have it."

I shook my helm at that as she walked to the bridge. Really? She was worried about a dinner date? I was more worried about keeping in contact with a femme that has been stranded on an unknown planet for fifty stellar cycles and Elita is worried about a dinner date with a mech that she sees every solar. On the solar in the future that I finally met Pandimala, I had to ask her how to deal with these kinds of things. She had to have some insight on the subject.

…At least that was what I was hoping.

Realizing that Optimus was probably waiting for me to get to the bridge before we took off, I did just that and, in no time, I was walking onto the bridge and took my seat to Optimus' left. He looked focused as he typed in the coordinates for the space bridge. From how Elita was glancing at Optimus, I knew that this was going to be a long trip. So, before either of them could try and strike up a conversation with me, I activated my recharge protocols before leaning back. After a click, I was in the deep embrace of recharge.

 **Four Cycles, Thirty Clicks Later**

The sooner Optimus and Elita got back to the ship, the sooner we could get back to Cybertron. That was something that I couldn't wait for. The trip bringing the energon to planet Vehicon went a lot smoother than I thought it would…though that might be partially due to me recharging through it all.

…Anyways, we arrived on Vehicon without much trouble, though that mech at the shipyard was in a pretty foul mood. Somebot probably got him mad and so he took it out on ships like ours. Thankfully, that was the worst of the problems that we faced delivering the energon. However, the leader of planet Vehicon, Carl, said that we were open to explore the capital until we had to leave to return to Cybertron. After our meeting with Carl, the three of us decided to go our 'separate' ways and explore the capital on our own for a cycle. Of course, while I had gone off in a completely different direction, Elita had gone down a very similar route that Optimus had. I was pretty sure that they were going to hang out together.

Honestly, I didn't mind. Just as long as I didn't see them during the cycle then I was fine. That hour was now up and, while I was on the ship and had some items that I had purchased, there was no sign of Elita and Optimus. We had six cycles to get back to Cybertron and I knew that there was going to be a wait of at least two cycles to get through the space bridge to Cybertron. If we didn't get back in time for my call with Pandimala, some serious slag would hit the rotors. She was a bit of sanity in my existence while I was sure I was a break from the monotony that her life was like. While I thought about it, I put some strangely-shaped trinkets into my subspace so I remembered to show Pandimala during our talk tonight. Maybe with her experience she knew what sort of shape they were.

The sound of pedesteps coming on board caused me to glance around and I saw that Elita and Optimus were finally getting back. And, from the number of bags that Elita had with her, I had a feeling that she had spent a lot of credits. "What took you two so long?" I asked them as Elita sat down the bags that she had in a storage compartment while Optimus did the same with the bags he was carrying. "I thought that I was going to have to leave without you two."

Optimus gave Elita a pointed look before saying, "Well, Elita and I bumped into each other not long after we split up." Right, like I hadn't seen _that_ coming. "We then did some shopping." Optimus then held up the smallest bag that he had. "This is what I bought."

…Wait, that meant that Elita bought the stuff in all the other bags that Optimus brought in as well as her own bags! Did she have any credits left to her designation? I mean seriously. How did that femme manage to buy so much stuff in the period of a cycle?

"Well…they had a lot of cool stuff and I wasn't sure if I was going to ever come back here. So, I figured that you only live once right?" Elita weekly defended her terrible spending habits.

Instead of commenting like I wanted, I motioned to the helm where Optimus was supposed to sit…since he was technically the team leader. "So, are we going to get going back to Cybertron? I'd like to get there in somewhat decent time."

Optimus started the procedures to take off while responding to that. "Why do you need to get back to Cybertron so quickly Sentinel? You finished your class sixty solars ago. It's not like you need to get back for some test or late homework…which is your normal excuse. So, what is it?"

While the ship started to rise above the planet's surface, I stared at Optimus with a concentrating look. To him, I hoped it looked like I was trying to remember what I was doing. I just wanted to get back tonight so I could have my talk with Pandimala. But, since she was…in a sense, my little secret, I was trying to think of what I was doing tomorrow so I could get them off my backplates. Since I was done with classes I was going to have to start making up new excuses.

After what seemed like forever, my processor finally decided to remind me of my schedule tomorrow, which included a visit to the CIA for a visit to see if I could find an intelligence officer for my team. It was a long shot but I was hoping that they had somebot who would meet with my specifications. "I have an appointment at the CIA to try and find an intelligence officer for my team."

I frowned as Elita let out a laugh. "Yeah right. You've been trying for fifty stellar cycles to put together your perfect team. You have recruited…what? None?" She then smirked a wicked smirk that had me worried. What was going on in her processor? "I bet you have some secret rendezvous with a femme tonight, don't you? Scared it isn't going to work out so you won't tell us?"

Scrap! That was a little too close to the truth for comfort. I knew that I looked panicked and I had to cover it up…and quickly! "Elita I wish I could say I was surprised by that answer. I'm too busy putting my team together to be goofing off. It's not like we all are as lazy as you are." She looked mad at me for that one but didn't say a word. I was pretty sure that I had deflected their curiosity for the time being. But, eventually, I knew that my secret about Pandimala was going to come out. I just hoped that it wasn't going to be too late.

For the next forty clicks, the trip was uneventful. No storms popped up on the radar, and we seemed to be flying smoothly. However, as I studied the area around me, something seemed off. From my inter-galaxy astrology class that I took…another suggestion from Pandimala, I knew that the constellations on our trip should not be the ones that I was seeing. Actually…if I was recognizing the constellation of the Great Warrior and the Predacon this clearly…then that meant that…

Immediately, I stood and sent a glare at Optimus. I was getting a feeling like I did when he had Elita and I go to the off-limits section of Kaon with him so he could look at their archives. Optimus and Elita both stood at the same time I did and, by the looks they quickly shot each other, I had a feeling that they were both in on this…whatever this is. "Sentinel, what's wrong?" Optimus asked me slowly, though I could hear a guilty tone in his voice. Optimus could never lie to me. He was slagging terrible at it. Elita could lie better than that. Frag, I could lie better than them both.

But, to get my anger out. "What's wrong? Why don't you and Elita tell me why we are half-way through the Archa system!?" I was building up a fury at the two bots in front of me. The Archa system was known for organic planets and they were banned for visit by us Autobots. It would mean strong punishments if we set pedes on one.

Both Optimus and Elita glanced at each other before Elita spoke. "Sentinel, cool your engines for a click. While Optimus and I were out shopping, we heard some rumors about how a Decepticon ship carrying energon crashed on Archa Seven forever ago and nobot has gone there to try and retrieve it. The mech that we talked to even gave us the estimated coordinates of where the ship landed."

"You want to go to a planet for some supposed energon that might not be there? If we step one pede on that planet we could get into serious trouble!" I argued with them, still angry that we were even heading in that direction. This was a waste of precious energon that we needed in our fight against the Decepticons. We were already going to be in some trouble for this and that meant reports from all of us!

However, I was somewhat surprised that Optimus continued arguing. Usually the serious trouble for a rumor would deter him. "What if we don't land?" What was he getting at? "If it is a Decepticon ship, then it should be able to be seen from the sky. We just need to fly over the spot where the ship is supposed to be. If it isn't there, then we can head straight back to Cybertron and fill out the reports for travelling off course. But, if it is, then we could get some easy energon for the Autobot side. Plus, can you imagine the sort of historical data we could find on a Decepticon ship? It could give us a tactical advantage to use against the Decepticons and help the war effort."

While I was really against going to the planet in the first place, I figured that a simple scouting mission could be beneficial. We could just fly over the supposed ship and, if it was there, we would take aerial photos before returning to Cybertron and giving them to Ultra Magnus and the Council to let them decide on what to do. Yes, it was bending the rule of not stepping pede on an organic planet, but a quick fly-over at the specified coordinates would be so bad. So, I let out a defeated sigh. "Fine." Both Optimus and Elita smiled at me and were about to talk when I held up a servo. "We will fly over the coordinates of the ship. If it is there, we take aerial pictures and return to Cybertron to present our findings. But, if there is nothing, we immediately make our way back to Cybertron. Otherwise, we turn around right now."

They had both looked upset about my first condition but, at the mention of the second option, they both relaxed in a defeated way before they nodded and returned to their seats. I just shook my helm and sighed before sitting back in my own seat. As I glanced out of my window, I could only hope that I was doing the right thing. Going to organic planets was against the rules and we could get in big trouble for going. I needed to have the best picks that I could to put together my perfect team. But, if I got into as big of trouble that I could get into for going to the organic planet, then my choice of bots would be severely diminished. If I was going to make a good team, this little side mission had better go off without any problems.

About a cycle and a half later, our ship was descending into the airspace of Archa Seven. The planet, strangely enough, looked familiar to me. There were tall mountainous pillars that randomly seemed to be growing from the ground and the terrain itself seemed to be rocky. From the way particles shifted as our ship grew closer to the ground, though not on landing approach, I noticed that they were rust sand particles. But, from what I could remember, I had never been on a planet that was like this before. Glancing at the monitor in front of my station, I saw that we were close to the coordinates that Elita and Optimus got from this source. So, I used the outside viewer to see if the ship was below us. Like I figured, there wasn't a ship.

…The report that I was going to have to write for this transgression was going to be the offlining of me. "Well, looks like your source was off you two. Let's get back," A sharp pain came to the side of my helm before I was knocked unconscious.

 **Some Unknown Time Later**

I groaned as I regained consciousness. What happened? I was just looking for the ship that the rumor said was here and, not so surprisingly, it was a no-show. So, I had been informing Elita and Optimus that this had been a waste of time when…

As my processor started to remember what happened, I became aware of a few facts. First off, we weren't moving. Secondly, there weren't any sounds around me. Lastly, however, was that it felt like I had been hit in the back of the helm by a weapon of some sort. Onlining my optics, I groaned again when I saw that there were a couple of things wrong with what I was seeing. One, we had landed on Archa Seven when I told Optimus and Elita that we were _not_ going to be landing. Two, I was probably knocked out by Optimus and Elita which meant that I was going to offline them for this. However, lastly and most importantly, I was alone on the ship. That meant that those two idiots had gone out onto the planet's surface to look around and try to find the ship for themselves. We were going to get in so much trouble for this and I needed to get them back before they got into any actual trouble on the planet.

So, I stood up and, once I was sure my helm was clear enough to go and find the others, I went to the cargo bay doors and opened them before walking out and closing them behind me. The ground beneath my pedes was strangely loose, but it wasn't too loose that it caused me to fall over. This was a strange planet. But, I couldn't study it. I had to find Elita and Optimus. Unfortunately, there were not any pedesteps to follow so I had to pick a random direction and hope beyond all hopes that I was able to locate the two idiots who were my temporary team. I would be giving them an audio-full when this was all out of the way.

As I walked across the alien landscape, I noticed that there was a strange shimmer that appeared at random points on the stony walls of the cliffs next to me. They seemed to be made of a strange substance and, while I was curious about what it was, I knew better than to try and touch the stuff. This was an organic planet and who knew what that stuff would do to me. So, I continued forward while looking for Optimus and Elita.

However, after I took two steps forward, I paused as I saw some movement as a shadow moved behind a corner up ahead. Something had to be there. But, I had a feeling that it wasn't Optimus and Elita. So, I took out my lance and shield before I got into a battle-ready stance. "Who's there? Come out now or I'm coming after you!" I challenged the shadow. If it wasn't sentient, then I would be ready to defend myself.

What I wasn't expecting was to hear a familiar voice respond. "Sen? Is that you?" Immediately, I put away my lance and took out my personal communication screen. But, when I looked at the screen it was dark. What was going on? "Sen, that is you!"

I glanced up, as I put my screen away, and felt my optics widen as I saw the femme I was talking to for the past fifty stellars slowly walking up to me. Now I understood why this planet seemed so familiar to me when we flew over. I had seen the landscape in the background of Pandimala during our calls. Now, I was finally understanding the situation she has been in for the past fifty stellars. On an organic planet, all alone and with only me to talk to. Yeah, she was ready to get off this world.

Now that I was finally found myself standing in front of the femme who I did count as a friend, I could only think of one thing to say out of the many things that I could. "You…you're a lot taller than I thought you would be."

Pandimala and I were just over an arm's length apart from each other before Pandimala let out a laugh. "Well, I am a triple changer Sentinel. Give me some credit for not being a monstrous size…just a giant." We both then laughed at that for a few nanos and, to my surprise, she walked up to me and gave me a hug. "Sentinel, I'm glad to meet you in the metal…finally."

I was caught off guard and could only pull off a simple nod before speaking, "Yeah, it's nice to meet you too Pandimala." What was I supposed to do? The only other femme I knew was Elita and, while she hugged Optimus regularly, I was not a regular recipient of her hugs. I didn't know what to do!

She continued to hug me, and I was still unsure of what I should do, for a few more nanos after that before she parted from me and her look grew concerned. "Like I said, I'm glad to see you Sen. But…what are you doing here? I don't think you knew I was here so there has to be another reason."

And Pandimala was just as smart talking faceplate to faceplate as she was over the comm screen. I noticed that her wings twitched slightly as she waited for me to answer. Did fliers signal their emotions through their wings? Was that why they were so protective of them? But, before I could ask Pandimala my questions, I had to answer hers. "You're right. I didn't know you were here. This is an off-limits planet to Autobots since it is an organic planet. Unless we have express permission, Autobots are not allowed to step a pede planetside. But, my two…temporary, teammates decided to break rules when they heard that there was an old Decepticon ship that crashed here that could have energon on it as well as historical data. They tricked me to coming here before they knocked me out."

I would have continued talking but Pandimala looked like she was about to go into full blown panic mode. "We need to find your friends now. If they find that ship, then they are going to get themselves helms-deep in danger." I followed Pandimala as she started to move back the way that I had come from. As she moved, she thankfully continued to explain. "There are organics on this planet that are known as 'spiders'. But, I've been to organic planets before and these ones have been mutated by the strange energon that the ship was carrying. While not all organics are dangerous, and I might even go so far as to say that most of them aren't dangerous to us, these spiders pose a real danger. And, they just so happened to set up their nest on the ship."

Wait… "What's a nest?" I asked her as we came out to the 'field' where the ship was.

As we went down another of the canyons I could have taken, Pandimala continued to explain. As she did, I noticed that her wings were raised high and they were stiff. "A nest is pretty much like the spiders' main home where they all live together and raise their young. When you get near an organics home, they get savagely protective and they will not stop in attacking what they see as a threat until that threat is no more. I have to sneak into the nest and take energon from the outskirts. But, the spiders still see me and I have to book it out of there fast if I don't want to end up as mutated spider food."

That sounded terrible. I had to keep reminding myself that Pandimala had spent fifty stellar cycles on this planet…alone. Well, she would now be coming back to Cybertron with us and I would do everything I could to make sure that she never went through something like this again. But, until we found Optimus and Elita, I might as well get to know some more about her. "Pandimala, can I ask you a question about your wings?"

"Is this really the time?" She asked me right back as we moved over the terrain.

I motioned ahead, which wasn't showing any sign of a ship, before pressing on. "Are we doing much else right now? Might as well talk some more."

A short laugh came out of her before she nodded. "Fine. Ask away Sen."

"Do your wings convey how you are feeling at a certain moment?" I went right into asking.

And Pandimala was quick with the answer. "In a sense…yes. Right now, my wings are raised-up right?" She took a quick glance at me and so I nodded before she continued. "Well, when they are raised up like this, that means that I am feeling a strong emotion right now. Wings can't convey the direct feelings like being happy or sad. But, they can let you know how a flier is feeling an emotion. A flier is most calm when their wings are in a stationary position. Sometimes this can be higher than others so you should know the flier in question before trying to decide if they are higher or lower. If they are lower, that usually involves a submissive emotion. This can be fear, or embarrassment, or submission, or caution. Like I said though, you have to be familiar with the flier in question before you can begin to decide how their emotional state is."

That would be very useful information for fighting the Decepticons. Fliers were, as a rule, hard to predict and it was because their faceplates, while able to express emotions, were very hard to discern what the bot was thinking or feeling. But, as we turned another corner, I thought of another question that still contained to her wings. "Pandimala, I get the idea of the wing elevations letting me know about the bot's emotions…but why do your wings twitch at times but, like now are stiff and definitely not relaxed."

I caught her smirk slightly before she answered. "You really are smart Sen. Don't let anybot ever tell you otherwise." She then paused in her walking and looked around. As she did, I noticed that her wings started to twitch. "Most time when you see a flier, their wings will either be in a relaxed position or stiff like mine just were." She then grew a worried look before she continued. "When they are stiff, it usually means that said flier is monitoring the air currents around them for any disturbances…a sort of early warning system really. When they start to twitch, it can mean that we are sensing something around us. Or we are uncomfortable. A reason why most fliers have claustrophobia like I do is because of the sensors on our wings. They don't react well to enclosed spaces, that don't have ventilation, like caves. Of course, the flier could just be impatient as well. They tend to twitch when we are irritated or impatient as well."

As we slowed down in front of an entrance to a cave, I noticed that her wings were twitching even more noticeably now and I was positive that they weren't doing it because of me annoying her. "So, what are you sensing right now?"

Pandimala's wings twitched slightly before they came to a rest. "The spiders are organizing. I can sense mass movement inside the cave here. Your friends must have upset them. We need to keep moving."

I nodded and, as we moved, figured I had enough time for one simple question. "Are the sensors in your wings the reason why fliers are so defensive about their wings getting hit in battle?"

"Yes." She then dug into her subspace before she pulled out a small piece of metal that was shaped like a crescent phase of a moon. "Before we keep moving, I want you to have this. I found it when I was little and I carry it around as sort of a good luck charm. It seems to have served me well and now it's your turn to have it. Maybe with it you can finally get the rest of your team together."

"Thank you." I thanked her as I took the strange piece of metal from her. Scrap! I needed to give her something! But what? I didn't usually carry much in my subspace that would be nice enough to give Pandimala. I was about to give up when I remembered the trinkets I bought on Vehicon. So, I dug one out and handed it to her. "I don't have much with me, but I just bought this from a vendor on Vehicon and I was hoping you would be able to identify it. I also want you to have it."

What I wasn't expecting was for her to slow to a stop in the middle of the cave and smile softly as she took the trinket from me before she traced it with her sharp digit. "Wow. I haven't seen one of these since I was little. A travelling sales-bot came to our home-planet one solar and she had some of these. I wanted one but my creators never let me." She traced the image again before talking. "The image is actually a creature from a distant planet. This creature is called a 'dragon'. I don't know a lot about it but the sales-bot did say that dragons were known as very wise creatures as well as very strong." Pandimala stared at the trinket…the dragon, for a few more nanos before she placed it in her subspace and turned to me. "Thank you, Sen."

I was about to respond to her when I heard a very familiar yell coming from just down the corridor. "That sounded like one of my shipmates called Optimus."

Pandimala nodded, her faceplate now serious, and let me take the lead forward. As I did, however, she yelled up to me. "Be careful of the organic-wire like substance. It is called a 'web' and these particular webs can trap even something as large and strong as one of us. I got my pede stuck in one once and it hurt like the Pit to get it unstuck."

"Thanks for the helms up." I thanked Pandimala before we both grew quiet and moved quickly. Optimus and Elita had gotten into trouble and now I was going to have to bail them out. Luckily for them, this happened to be the planet that Pandimala was stranded on and she helped me find this place or they could be offline.

Well…they still could be but now we all had a better chance of escaping.

It wasn't long before I ran into a chamber and took in the situation. Elita was trapped in some of the 'web' that Pandimala told me about and she was struggling to get it off. I could imagine that it was difficult for Pandimala to get off since she was alone. Anyways, Optimus was fighting back a giant eight-legged organic that was pulsing a dark purple color, had many organic optics, and fangs. He was using his grappler to pull parts of the ceiling down around the organic.

"Sentinel?" Elita called out my name in surprise.

I looked at her and was about to say something when I heard a voice from behind me. "Sentinel move!"

Pandimala sounded serious when she yelled that and so I moved just as she ran by me and I saw that, not only were her shoulder cannons down and pointing at the organic, but they were glowing at the ends. In the next nano, Pandimala fired and I felt my optics widen, as well as saw both Elita's and Optimus' do the same, as a stream of fire slammed into the organic and, within ten nanos, the organic was offlined.

The four of us stood panting for a couple of clicks before I walked up to Elita and cut the web off her. Once it was off, she stood up and moved toward Sentinel while giving Pandimala a nervous look. But, before she could speak, Optimus decided to get a word in. "Well…that was a close one."

…I was going to strangle him! "A close one?" But, it seemed like Pandimala was just as angry as I was. "You went into unknown territory with no plan while also incapacitating one of your allies, angered a local species of mutated organics that happen to be mutated by an unstable strain of energon, and I had to risk my spark to save _your_ idiot helms and 'that was a close one' is all you have?" She then placed her servos on her hips and I saw that her wings were raised high and they were twitching. She was not a happy camper. "The very least you could do is start off with an apology! Both of you!"

They both stared at her in shock for a nano before Optimus turned to me. "I'm sorry for not listening Sentinel. It won't happen again."

Elita nodded, though I couldn't tell if she was going to be sincere or not. Oh well. Just getting a forced apology from her would be nice. "Yeah, I guess we took things a little too far." Eh…close enough. However, Elita wasn't done talking and placed her servos by her hips. "But who's the flier? Can't be an Autobot. Autobots don't fly."

I was surprised when Pandimala just raised an optic ridge at that before she smirked and said, "Besides the femme that just saved both of your afts? The name's Pandimala, neutral for now but I want to be an Autobot."

Wait…she had made up her processor? Yes! That meant that I had successfully convinced her to join the right side! Now, once we got off this planet, I was so going to have her on my team. No bot else was going to and that was final! I would make it so.

Movement from Optimus caused me to look as he walked up to Pandimala and extended a servo. "Thanks for the save then. I'm Optimus Prime and this is Elita-One. She's a Prime too but she just likes to be called Elita…or Elita-One."

Pandimala nodded at that. "I'll remember it. But, you both were foolish to come here. As much as I appreciate a rescue from this planet, this is a very dangerous planet. The spiders," She motioned to the offline organic as she said that before she continued. "have been mutated with an unstable strain of energon. Not a place to just decide to pop in at."

Elita nodded at that. "I'm beginning to see why organic planets are off-limits."

While I had a feeling that Pandimala wanted to argue that point with Elita, the sound of more spiders coming from where Pandimala and I just came from stopped it and I saw Pandimala's faceplate grow serious. "The old Decepticon ship is not far from here. We should be able to reach the surface from there. But, it will be dangerous. The spiders will be more territorial there. However, if we can reach the surface, then the spiders won't follow us. They are nocturnal and actually hate the sunlight."

The three of us nodded and so we let Pandimala lead the way down the corridor and away from the amassing spiders. Thankfully, the trip to the ship wasn't long and, once it was in view, I found myself staring at it as I ran. That was a _Decepticon_ warship. I couldn't believe it. It was huge!

"Wow, the warship is massive." Optimus commented from next to me.

As we entered the ship, however, Pandimala spoke. "No. It's not impressive. This isn't even the whole ship. I have a feeling that most of the ship must have been destroyed back when it crashed here. This was probably just the storage wing."

…Storage? The storage compartment was this big!? Maybe I didn't want to see a Decepticon warship anytime soon. Of course, what I wanted to do right now was get off this planet…and quickly. The halls of the storage area were huge and, after a few clicks, we went through a door that led to strange purple colored energon glowing. That must be the strain that mutated the spiders. It would probably be best if we didn't touch it.

Before we could say much, a high-pitched shriek filled the air and we were surrounded by hundreds of the spiders. We weren't going to make it! "What are we supposed to do now?" Elita asked as the four of us backed up toward a tall stack of the strange energon.

Pandimala seemed to have the answer as she pointed toward the ceiling. It was only then that I saw the hole above us that would lead to the surface. "Optimus Prime," Pandimala started. "grab Elita-One and use those grapplers I saw you use earlier to get out of here." As Optimus nodded and grabbed Elita before activating his grapplers, Pandimala grabbed me before saying, "Hold on Sentinel. Flying is a little unnerving the first time."

Nodding, I braced myself as I felt Pandimala's hold on me tighten slightly. In the next nano, I heard the sound of a jet engine starting…which I had to learn to identify in one of my classes, before we started to lift into the air. It was amazing! Optimus had picked me up a few times with his grapplers but this was something completely different. Flight. I wonder why Autobots couldn't fly? "Pandimala, you are so lucky you get to fly whenever you want." While we flew through the hole and toward safety, I decided that now would be the best time to ask her an important question. "'Mala…after we get to Cybertron and you are vetted as an Autobot…would you like to join my team as a warrior?"

Pandimala smiled and nodded as we neared the exit. "Sen, I would love to. Thank y," She cut herself off with a gasp as we were jerked to a stop.

"The organics!" Optimus shouted while pointing at Pandimala's pedes.

I looked too and saw that the spiders had shot a lot of web at Pandimala's left thruster and they were strengthening their hold on it. No! We would get passed this! But, when I looked to Pandimala to confirm that idea, all I saw was a torn look in her optics. What was wrong? For these fifty stellar cycles that I knew her, she was always full of hope. What was wrong now?

"Sentinel…please don't hate me." Pandimala whispered to me as I felt her slightly fly backwards.

A sharp jolt of pain went through my spark, though I wasn't sure why. "What do you mean 'Mala?" I was worried about what she was planning.

However, she didn't speak to me as she looked up at Optimus. "You! Optimus! Get ready to catch!"

Wait…no! She couldn't do this! "Pandimala what are you doing?" I asked as she changed her hold on my chassis.

I could see tears on the edges of her optics before she smiled. "Sentinel, thank you so much for being there for me when no-bot else was, for trusting me even though I didn't give you reason to at first. I'm just sorry I'm not going to see your home-world that you were always so proud of."

Then, before I could say a word, Pandimala threw me up toward Optimus. "Pandimala no!" I screamed as I felt Optimus' grapple grab me and pull me toward safety. "No! Pandimala!" I yelled again once I hit solid ground and I looked down toward the hole. If she was close enough, maybe Optimus could reach her with his grapples!

But, as I glanced down the opening, I could only watch as Pandimala was pulled down into the darkness below by her pedes, which I could faintly see where both covered in webs now. A few nanos later, I watched as she disappeared.

"Sentinel, we need to leave now!" Optimus yelled at me as he pulled me to my pedes.

But, I wasn't having it. "No! I can't leave her! I can't!" I couldn't leave her here alone! She spent fifty stellars here alone and I couldn't let her.

"Sentinel!" Optimus yelled at me while turning me toward him. "She is buying us time to get to the ship. The femme is a flier Sentinel. If she can get away from the spiders, she could meet us at the ship!"

While I didn't want to leave, what Optimus was saying did make sense. So, with a heavy spark, I turned from the opening and ran with Optimus and Elita toward the ship. Thankfully, it didn't take us long to reach it and, once we were inside, we closed the hatch while Optimus started the warm-up sequence. It would take a few clicks to fully warm up the engines before we could take off. Pandimala was strong. If she survived those fifty stellar cycles before we got here, then she would survive this. I knew she would,

My optics widened as a large explosion could suddenly be seen from the coordinates which housed the ship…and the unstable energon! "No! Pandimala!"

 **Cybertron…Two Solars Later**

"Going to an organic world was foolish and against Autobot law forbidding such an action." Ultra Magnus addressed the three of us as we stood in front of the Council. I was thankful only that there would be no trial. I didn't want Pandimala's designation to be sullied by our court proceedings.

…she was offline and there was nothing I could do.

"Punishment for this offense will be as follows." Councilmech Alpha Trion took over. I didn't understand why, but he kept staring at me with a soft look. Why was he doing that? I doubted that the old mech knew what I was going through right now…and I wasn't going to tell him. "Optimus Prime, Sentinel Prime, and Elita-One Prime; all three of you will be put on planetary lockdown for five hundred stellar cycles. Also, a fine of two thousand credits is expected to be paid by each of you." He then slammed the gavel against the podium in front of him…making our sentence official. "Court adjourned."

While Elita and Optimus looked upset by the amount of time we were pretty much confined to Cybertron, I was upset that our punishment wasn't more severe. Even though the Council didn't know about this fact…a spark was unnecessarily extinguished due to that unauthorized and illegal trip. That was a serious offense and I would make sure that I never forgot Pandimala or her sacrifice for us…for me. I would never forget. But, for Pandimala's sake, I didn't mention her and I was relieved that neither Optimus nor Elita mentioned it as well.

Shaking my helm, I sent the fine money directly to the Council's fine depository and I made sure to note that it was my fine. Once I received a receipt saying that I had paid my fine, I nodded once toward the Council before I left the room. I had to return to my apartment and decide what I should do next. While that was going to take some time, what I did know was that I didn't want to be anywhere Optimus Prime and Elita-One Prime ever again.

I flinched as I felt a servo place itself on my shoulder and immediately yanked my shoulder away as I turned to see who was trying to stop me. A growl slipped from my vocals when I saw that it was Optimus and Elita. "Sentinel, I know you might be upset that we have to spend so much time stuck on Cybertron, since I know you want to build the best team, but I want you to know that we will be,"

"No!" I yelled at him, causing everybot around us to pause and stare. But I didn't care. I felt enraged as I continued to look at them. They were the cause of all of this! If it wasn't for them…then she would be… "Don't you ever come near me again! Either of you! You know _nothing_ about what I am feeling right now!" I then paused to calm myself down. Causing a fight while we were still in Fortress Maximus was not the best thing to do after that very lenient ruling at our trial. So, I straightened myself and held a cold glare at Elita and Optimus, both looking shocked at my outburst, before I continued in an icy tone. "I don't know either of you."

I turned away from them and, as I walked away from them with slow and deliberate steps, I decided that I would never forget.

* * *

 **Sentinel: *staring in shock* You...you killed...**

 **Authoress: *bawling eyes out* I didn't want to!**

* * *

 **AN: Well...that's the end of that chapter and the prologue. I...I still can't believe that I offlined Pandimala so early in the story. Were any of you surprised? I thought about keeping it Elita but then I figured that this would be a little more entertaining. But, I do want to throw a reminder out to all of you; look at the details. In my stories, I have a habit of placing details in beginning chapters (and middle chapters) that will give away big plots for later on. Also, I alluded to a movie in one of the scenes above. Can you find it?**

 **Besides that, Sentinel seemed very shaken by the loss of Pandimala. How will that affect the future? You can already see that it is affecting his attitude at the end. He has severed all ties with Elita and Optimus!**

 **Next chapter, we will have a large time skip that will start the story and that will be started after the end of season 3. Sentinel will have a team with some members, but I don't think they will be what you are expecting. As for Optimus and Elita, well, you will see next chapter (I think).**

 **Well, that's all for now! Please leave a review, even to say hello! But, I have to go! TTYL!**


	3. Trip Down Memories Old Yet New

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Sentinel: *glances at chapter* So...they are meeting my team...are they ready for that?**

 **Authoress: Yeah, I think your team is ready for the fans.**

 **Sentinel: *shakes his helm* I meant are your readers mentally stable enough to meet my team. You know how they...well...**

 **Authoress: *shrugs* Oops.**

 **Sentinel:...Oh no.**

* * *

Ch. 1: Trip Down Memories Old Yet New

 **Sentinel's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I frowned at the window in front of me. After finally capturing the Decepticon top leadership, I had thought Cybertron might find peace. But, five solars ago, an unknown agent working on Cybertron helped orchestrate the release of the Decepticon command. Ultra Magnus and the Council wasted no time in organizing teams to go out and find the Decepticons. Through the information net, I heard that Rodimus Prime's team and Vox Prime's team were grouped together and heading toward Planet Chaar. Rumors were pretty high that the Decepticon leadership was heading there, since the Decepticons were gathering forces there before the leadership escaped.

But, I had a feeling that Megatron and his higher command would not be meeting with the other Decepticons on Team Chaar. From the few times that I had ended up on Earth with Optimus Prime and his idiot team, I noticed that Megatron seemed almost attached to the small planet. He would go there. I didn't doubt that for a nano. So, I had sent a request into headquarters to have my team sent to Earth to back-up Optimus' team. Ultra Magnus, to my surprise, agreed to the request almost immediately. I would have thought it would have taken more on my side of things to convince him.

Anyways, my team and I had left in our ship, the Stella Monstrum, and had immediately made our way toward Earth. We were now thirty clicks away from the green and blue marble and I was having mixed feelings about what I was going to expect being on the planet on a more permanent basis. Before, during my brief visits there with Ultra Magnus, my team had been left on Cybertron and I had to only interact with Optimus and Elita…who was on Optimus' team, temporarily until I got to return to Cybertron. Now, not only did I have to be with those…bots, full time until Megatron's recapture along with his higher command, but I also had my own team to look after.

"Caeser Sentinel, you look so stressed. Why don't you admit your undying love for me and then I can help you get rid of all this negative air around you?" I sighed as the voice of one of my teammates came from behind me.

Turning, I saw as the dark teal car mech that had sea green and tan markings walk up to me. He always wore his bright blue visor and I respected him enough not to ask him to take it off. He had a smirk on his light gray faceplate that meant I was going to have a helmache coming up. "Trecke, I'm just thinking about what our trip to Earth will be like."

Trecke pouted slightly before sighing. "Oh well, if you shall not reciprocate my love then maybe I will find a suitable bot on this planet who will take the honored position."

He was a hopeless romantic. Ever since the solar I met him, I knew this. But, the mech had one of the sharpest processors on him that I had ever encountered. I had met him about ten solars after the…devastation on Archa 7 and I had not really expected to find my first living member of my team…since she had accepted before…

Flashback

 _I frowned as I walked into the CBI Headquarters. It had taken me stellars to arrange this tour and, even though I was on planetary lockdown…and Pandimala was offline, I wanted to make a kick-aft team who would take down any enemy that we came across and make our names be known throughout the galaxies. But, during the solars since the Archa 7 incident, I had thought about my team. While I did want them to be amazing in their fields, I also realized that I had been looking in the wrong way. I had the leaders of each organization bring bots to me who would make a fit in any team. That was not what I needed to make my perfect team._

 _What I needed where unique bots who would stand out and bring a unique characteristic to the team. Pandimala had been a triple changer for Primus' sake! She would have been an oddity if…well…_

… _Anyway, I soon found the bot who I was looking for and, once our optics met, he ended the conversation he was having before greeting me. "Sentinel Prime, I'm glad you could make it. After everything that we heard happened…well…not even Councilmech Alpha Trion was positive that you would come this solar." Stix greeted me in a strange fashion._

 _Yes, and it was thanks to Councilmech Alpha Trion that I was able to arrange this tour. Not many bots got the opportunity to do this but, somehow, the old mech had heard about what I was trying to do and pulled some strings for me. I still didn't know why he did this for me but I wasn't going to question it._

 _Shaking my helm, I motioned onward. "Well? I am here and that is the important part. If I am to create my own team, then I need to see everybot that I can. I'm hoping to get a tactician this solar." Well, I didn't expect to find another bot so soon after Pandimala…but I could at least try._

 _Stix nodded before he turned and started down the hallway. While he spoke on the different places that we were passing, I decided to slightly tone him out as I observed the bots that we passed. Most bots seemed like regular bots and, while that wasn't a bad thing, it wasn't what I was looking for. I needed just the right bot to be on my team. A bot who wouldn't look at what happened on Archa 7 and think that I was an incapable leader._

 _I focused back on the tour as Stix lead me into a rec room that the bots at the CBI used while on break. In the room, I could see about seven mechs and four femmes relaxing and hanging out with each other. "This is our main rec room. There are four other rooms like this in the building and they will have a good amount of bots in them from time to time. This one is a little less used since it is available to be shown on these tours. Most bots don't want to,"_

" _Hey, you're the idiot who went to Archa 7." My vocals tightened, slightly, at the mention of the planet and looked to see a black hauling mech with blue markings walking up with a scowl on his faceplate. Next to him was a dark purple mech with black markings on his arms. The black hauling mech continued to speak. "Are you here to find more bots to get into trouble? I think any bot who goes with you would have to be insane."_

 _My denta ground against each other as I studied the mech. After a few clicks, I finally spoke. "And who are you that you can judge me? Do you know everything that happened on that…unplanned trip?"_

 _The black hauling mech frowned at my response. "Watch it punk. Just because you're a Prime doesn't mean that I got to take that slag from scrap like you. I am Nightquake. This bot next to me is Acidswitch. And as a bot with a working processor, unlike yourself, I have a pretty good case to judge you."_

 _Acidswitch nodded at that. "Yeah, it's like Night here says. With a malfunctioning processor like yous got, then we don't need to explain our reasoning to you."_

 _I could see Stix make a move out of the corner of my optics and held up a servo to stop him. I would have to deal with these kind of bots everywhere I went thanks to those two pieces of slag called Optimus Prime and Elita-One Prime. Once I was sure that Stix wouldn't interfere, I moved my servo and turned my attention to the processor-offline idiots in front of me. "Sure, I might have a malfunctioning processor, but at least I don't share mine like you two seem to need to do to think clearly…if you would call it that."_

 _That got Nightquake to really growl and he took a step closer to me. "Why you little pampered creation of a glitch! You better choose your next words carefully because they might be your last. No bot insults me and Acidswitch and gets away with it."_

 _In return, I just shook my helm and glanced at Stix. "Stix, I don't see what I'm looking for in this room. At the very least, I need a bot with a full processor of their own to be a part of my team. The two without one in this room have dissuaded me from looking into any bot in here further." I then took a step back as if to leave._

 _Nightquake and Acidswitch didn't like that one bit. With matching snarls, which was not helping their argument that they didn't share a processor, they launched at me. Stix and I immediately got into defensive positions. This wasn't going to help me later on in trying to find the rest of my team but I didn't have a choice except to defend myself._

 _However, before Nightquake and Acidswitch could get near the two of us, a figure suddenly swung down from the ceiling. Once the new mech's pedes landed on the two charging mechs, the new mech frowned. "How dare you two disgusting mechs try to attack such a fair guest as this Prime and our very own and special Stix?" …Wait what? I couldn't think more on the subject as this new mech kicked Acidswitch and Nightquake away from us._

 _Once the two landed, they immediately stood up and I saw both of their optics narrow at the new mech. Already a plus for me in my files concerning this strange mech. "Let's go Acid." Nightquake commented as he studied the new mech warily. I wonder why that was. "Don't want to catch whatever virus that lunatic has." The two mechs then ran out of the room through a back door._

 _After they were gone, and the others in the room returned to what they were doing, the strange mech turned to us and, to my surprise, knelt down on one knee. "Oh great warrior, I am humbled to even be in your presence. My love is yours forever and I hope that you will take it with great earnest."_

… _Um…what?_

 _Thankfully, Stix seemed to know what to do. "Settle down Trecke. No one wants a love proposal like that, and you don't even know him." He then shook his helm before he motioned to the bot still kneeling before us. "Sentinel Prime, this is Trecke. Believe it or not, he is actually a high ranked tactician but he has a quirk of…well…declaring his love to almost every bot that he meets."_

" _Not everybot my love." Trecke corrected Stix._

 _At that correction, Stix frowned and shook his helm. "That's exactly what I mean. Let's go and,"_

" _Sentinel Prime, great warrior, I offer my services for your cause and I do it out of eternal love." Trecke suddenly interrupted Stix. The nano after he said this, I got a message with a data packet attached to it. It was from Trecke. While I was nervous that I would be bombarded with love letters, from how the mech was acting, I opened the file. While I read it, since it actually contained a detailed accounting of his tactician background, Trecke continued to speak. "Caesar Sentinel, I would be honored to be your tactician. I would serve you with undying love and loyalty. I would be an amazing lover to you and I would follow your orders even if they offlined my spark."_

 _Even Stix was surprised at Trecke's sudden outburst and I studied the mech as I finished off his file. To be honest, this mech was one Pit of a tactician according to the files. He had scored high on his tests and, if I didn't just see the mech's strange quirks for myself, I would wonder why he wasn't presented to other Primes trying to build teams before. An amazing record but, just a bit of an oddity case and he wasn't presented. I think I knew my answer to the mech._

" _Trecke you idiot you just can't," Stix started to verbally put the mech down._

 _But, I held up a servo to quiet Stix. I wanted to speak to Trecke about his offer. "Trecke. I do not love you and I will not love you in that sense. I do not want to be your lover and I never want that to happen." He looked crestfallen slightly at my rejection of his love before I continued. "However, you are exactly what I am looking for in a tactician. If your offer to be my tactician is serious, then it would be an honor to have you on my team."_

 _Stix's optics widened and I took a step back as he extended his arms toward me and his smile looked like he was about to split his faceplate in half. "Oh what cruel rejection and spark-warming acceptance! My love I shall follow you until the end of my existence!"_

 _Trecke then stood up and, while Stix seemed stuck standing in shock, the two of us moved out of the room and I followed my new teammate to his quarters to collect his things. I had a team barracks reserved for stellar just for this occasion to start. Teams were recommended to stay together and this was the time. While Trecke was a bit…eccentric, he was the right choice and I knew that I would not regret it._

End of Flashback

Now, the two of us, along with the third member of our team, were heading toward Earth. They would be a change to the dull and idiotic bots there. Maybe my bots could teach those bots under Optimus a few things? Shaking my helm out of those thoughts before they went too far, I motioned to the planet in front of us. "Trecke, I doubt that the bots down there will be as receptive to your…love yearnings, as we are up here. Be careful around them." My processor then flashed back to one of my meetings with Optimus' team before I added, "Some of them might try to take your helm off for that kind of talk."

Trecke made a pouting face and looked like he was about to respond to that. But, before he could, the voice of our third and final member…for now…suddenly sounded. "Oh, but you don't have to worry about that precious leader. If anybot there tries to hurt our team," The mech suddenly dropped down from a loft above the command room and I could see his sharp denta as his mouth was pulled into a dark smirk. "then I'll tear them apart from the seams and then reattach them slowly and painfully to the wrong bots. They do not disrespect our team. No bot disrespects our team."

"Oh great, you're up you shadowy psychotic." And that was another weird thing. Fable, the mech now in front of us, did not receive the same love proposals that almost every other bot did. In opposition to that, Trecke seemed to be indifferent to our third team member.

I felt a twinge from my arm as a ghost pain from when I had first met Fable, the mech in front of me. Our meeting was…unusual and I hadn't been sure about the mech. But, I had needed help and he had been there when others were too busy.

Flashback

 _I flinched in pain as I looked at my arm. During a training exercise with Trecke, I had gotten injured by some flying debris and had to be taken to Iacon Central. It was really a pain but definitely not existence-threatening. However, I could hear Trecke's panicking yells from here…and the waiting room was two hallways away._

 _Of course, I was kind of annoyed at the fact that I was still waiting. I had been sitting in this darkened room for thirty clicks now and I still hadn't been seen by a medic. While my wound wasn't serious, I didn't understand what was taking so long for a medic to get in here. If they didn't hurry up and get to me, I was sure that Trecke was going to have a spark attack._

 _The sound of a door opening had me turning to a side door and I felt relief when I saw a tall mech, about my height, that was colored black with red and gray markings. His optics were dark blue and he had an orange center in his optics. They were narrowed and I saw a sharp-denta smirk on his faceplate. He was a hauling mech, which was strange for a medic, but that was alright._

" _Sorry that you had to wait so long Sentinel Prime." The mech spoke to me. "Things have been_ _ **crazy**_ _on the fighting fronts and we have injured mechs coming in by the cycle. But, I was able to slip away to help treat you. I promise not to bite." He then moved to a table and picked up a welding torch. Once it was on, I could see that the tips of his sharp digits were colored red, which contrasted most bots who had only a solitary color of servos._

 _I understood the situation and nodded. "Well, thanks for taking time for me doc." I then sat and studied the bot in front of me as he started to work on my shoulder. While he did, I realized that in, all of my stellars, I had never met this bot before and yet he knew my name. While I realized that he probably knew my designation because he had access to my file. "So doc, what's your designation?"_

 _The mech's smirk fell slightly into a smile before the smirk returned. "Well, I guess you can know some things about me, since you are allowing me to work on you." He then paused for a click and moved the torch slightly, before he said, "The name's Fable. I've been a medic for fifty stellars but most bots don't appreciate the hard work I put into them. Such lovely creations. It's quite sad, really. But, I will not hold that against them…for now."_

 _I didn't like the sound of the end of that and hoped that I wouldn't end up on this medic's bad side. He didn't seem like the regular kind of medic. He seemed to be calculating something but, honestly, I didn't mind as he started to finish up sealing my wound._

 _My spark, however, fell as a light blue femme nurse came in and her optics widened when they landed on Fable. "What are you doing in here?" She sounded panicked and that could not be good for me._

 _Fable, having just finished sealing my wound, turned off the welder and held up a dismissing servo to the nurse. "Can't you see I'm with a patient now nurse?"_

" _Patient? You were banned from being in a medical bay and touching any bot medically!" The femme yelled at Fable. "What did you do to this mech?"_

 _At her words, I jumped off the berth and studied the weld mark. What I saw caused my spark to fall slightly. While the weld was done correctly, the mech had taken the liberty of adding a spark-beat monitor design into the weld as well. Well frag…this mech was a raving lunatic. Well, at least he knew what he was doing._

" _Nurse I was just taking care of my patient. At least I didn't rearrange his limbs like I did the last one." Okay, Fable said that too non-chalantly to be sane. And he still had that same smirk on his faceplate._

 _The nurse was not looking happy at this insane mech's answer. "You are not licensed to work on any Cybertronian and you know this Fable! You psycho maniac!" She practically growled the last part._

 _I flinched at the glare that Fable sent toward the femme, as did she, before he responded to that. "While I appreciate the flattery at the end dear femme, you had best to make sure you check your facts. While it is true that I may not be all that put together in the helm, I passed my medical exam and I am allowed to practice. Just because you fools here will not let me practice here, even when you are in need of even my services like now, does_ _ **not**_ _mean that I_ _ **cannot**_ _practice." He was practically seething at her. Guess his medical license was a touchy point with him._

 _This was a strange situation and I am not sure what I could do right now. While the nurse did seem to be in charge, this mech did heal my arm. While the seal over the closure was a little…eccentric…it was sealed correctly and was quality work. Plus, I had to give the mech some credit. At least he knew he was insane._

 _The nurse suddenly changed her look to a glare before she seemed to activate her comm link. "This is Avian down in check-up room twenty-five. Fable is down here again. Bring security with you."_

 _To my surprise, Fable did not launch at the femme or try to escape. He was standing against the berth that I had recently vacated and was staring at me, his strange dark blue optics with orange irises seemingly studying me. I was curious as to why that was before, after a click, I suddenly got a private comm with a file attached to it. "_ _Please look at my file and consider making me a part of your team. I have heard of you and is why I risked working on you even though I know that they check up on Primes that are waiting as soon as they can. From my understanding, you only have yourself and a tactician known as Trecke. If you would allow, and if you would not mind dealing with my…insanity, then please allow me on your team. All I wait for is a nod to make my resolution to serve your team out loud and in front of our conveniently available witness…es. "_

 _Wait…did Fable plan this from the start? From the calm look I could see on him, then that might be a yes. Since I did still need a medic, I looked into his file and noticed that he had multiple infractions for dismembering his patients…willing patients who had signed wavers of rights, and rearranging their limbs or even putting the limbs of one bot onto another. While his medical license was not taken away for doing that, he was forbidden to work in hospitals that did not want him. Iacon Central was one of those hospitals._

 _I glanced at that mech in front of me and back through the report, that definitely had more on it then I had time to thoroughly study, before I made my decision. While this mech would make a very strange addition to my team…well, another strange addition to my team, I felt like this mech would be the exact type that Pandimala would have approved of. He was underestimated by the bots around him, an outcast one might say, and he was fragging good at his profession. Not the absolute best, but hard to beat._

 _My helm nodded deliberately toward him to let him know that I had accepted him. In return, his smirk…that seemed to be always present on his faceplate, fell into a smile as he nodded back at me once._

 _The sound of pedesteps caused both Fable and I to turn toward the doorway and I saw that there were three large mechs who probably worked as security here at the hospital. "Fable, come with us quietly and peacefully." One of the mechs said slowly. Did they think he was stupid? Mentally unstable…yes I saw that. But he was no idiot._

 _In response, Fable walked up to me, causing security and Avian to tense, before he got down on his right knee before placing his right servo over his spark. "In the name of Primus, I, Fable, medic of Cybertron stand before Sentinel Prime in the presence of witnesses Avian, Cranklock, Sunlock, and Scramble. I, Fable, from this click hence, voluntarily swear to you, Sentinel Prime, my fealty. I will be a faithful medic to you with regard to your life, as well as the life and wellbeing of those who you command me to, in good faith and without deception. I shall use all my skill and energon to fight and heal for you, precious leader, and any you command me to."_

 _Wow…I didn't expect a full oath of fealty. That was almost as confusing as Trecke's had been…and that had been just weird. It confused me so much that we stayed in these positions for a few clicks. But, movement from Avian and the others, caused me to realize that I had to react. But, before I could, Avian started to talk. "Now you're just showing your damaged processor again you dolt. Like anybot would,"_

" _I accept your oath of fealty Fable. Welcome to my team." I interrupted Avian with a smile and nod toward the for once serious looking Fable._

 _However, that serious look did not last any longer as the smirk returned to his faceplate. Once he rose, he leaned his helm so he was looking toward Avian and the others before smirking. Then he stuck out his glossa at them before he started to laugh up a storm._

 _I just faceplate palmed myself. This was going to be a very…interesting team._

End of Flashback.

"Sentinel, how much longer until we arrive and I can meet my new test subjects?" Fable asked me with the most serious faceplate I had ever seen…that also had a smirk.

Even though Fable had only been on our team for thirteen solar cycles, two solars after Optimus and his team had left to return to Earth, I was already used to how he spoke of new bots and this was not unusual. He had greeted Trecke, when they first met, with asking if he could put Trecke's left arm where his right was, and so forth with the left. Trecke had immediately cried to me to protect our love together.

But, after that incident, we had a few training sessions as a team and, as strange as our team was, we quickly learned how to work together during these times. I think it also helped that both had sworn their very sparks to me and both Trecke and Fable seemed to respect that in each other.

But, back to Fable's question. "We have about thirty clicks before we land planet-side. While we are there, unless they give you no other option, please try to not disassemble Optimus Prime's team. I don't want to hear him and Elita-One badgering me about it." I then turned to both with a serious look. "Both of you need to remember that Optimus' team has not met you yet. You are not allowed to scar their processors for life during introductions. Again, Optimus and Elita would get on me about it and that would be a pain."

This assignment on Earth was going to be difficult as it was, since I was going to have to work with Elita and Optimus again. Besides the temporary times on Earth, during which I had Ultra Magnus with me, I had worked…or even spoken with, Optimus and Elita since after the trial concerning Archa 7. Both Fable and Trecke knew the story, and had sworn to never mention it when there was even a slim chance of other bots hearing. They were my team and I did not want to keep Pandimala and her involvement in the Archa 7 situation from them so I didn't. Thankfully, they were loyal bots and, even with their strange quirks, they had yet to say anything that I didn't want them to say.

But, this would be another test entirely. Optimus and Elita were responsible, in my books, for what happened that dreaded solar on Archa 7. Both Fable and Trecke recognized that, technically, Pandimala was the first member of our team, though she did not live long to enjoy it, and they felt an anger toward Optimus and Elita for their servo in her offlining.

The thirty clicks passed much faster than I thought they would and, soon, we were landing in the new base that was set up just outside of Detroit. The humans were in a conditional alliance with the Autobots and, to show this, they had allowed us to build an official base here on Earth. There were rooms in the base that could house my team and, with how I knew my team, I knew that we would be spending a lot of time here.

Once the ship was docked, I led my team to the cargo bay. I stood in front of the doors and let out a sigh. This was not how I planned to spend my next collection of solars. Having to be near… _them_. But, I had to look at the bigger picture. Megatron and his higher command had escaped and I felt like they would be here on Earth. But, before I could press the button to lower the gang-plank, I found my servo hesitate in front of the button and that it was shaking slightly. This…this was going to be difficult.

A servo being placed on each of my shoulders caused me to look at my sides and I saw that Trecke had his servo on my right shoulder and Fable had his on my left. Both of their faceplates showed a serious determination. "My love, my Caeser, we will be with you through every step of this trial." Trecke encouraged me in his own way.

Fable nodded. "I will excise a path for you, my precious leader, and you will never be alone in this challenge. Both Trecke and I will stand tall with you. Our loyalty will never falter."

Those two rarely got along when I hadn't coached them to before this so them cooperating now sent a wave of encouragement through my systems. With this new encouragement, I pressed my servo against the button and, the nano later, the gang-plank slowly lowered. Once it was fully on the ground, I saw Optimus and his team standing in front of me.

Starting on the far right, I could see the old medic called Ratchet. Out of Optimus' entire team, that was really the only mech I could say that Optimus was lucky to get. A veteran of the Great War, Ratchet was a legend among medics. Fable even respected the old bot and that said something. Next to him was the femme called Arcee. While I was not very familiar with her, since she had only recently regained her memory, I reserved my judgement of her for another solar.

Next to her, and on Optimus' left, was the one called Prowl. He was the cyber-ninja that almost offlined during their fight with Megatron here. I wasn't quite sure on all the details on that situation but the bot himself seemed to be an uptight bot who could be a stickler. From the looks I could already see on both Trecke's and Fable's faceplates, they saw fresh energon ripe for the attacking.

…This would not end well.

On the other end there was the small scout Bumblebee, who had a mouth loud enough to attract Decepticon attention from miles away, and next to him was the bumbling warrior of Optimus' team; Bulkhead. While the bot could have potential, if he applied himself to warrior training, the space bridge expert did not seem to want to practice fighting. For such a smart mech, he was very street dumb.

I growled softly to myself when I saw Elita standing on Optimus' right. Just seeing her an Optimus again reminded me that I would have to spend the foreseeable future near them. Plus, with how my team was, I would have to talk with Optimus and Elita more than I wanted. Of course, since they were responsible for what happened to Pandimala, I didn't want to speak a word to them. But, our fight against the Decepticons was more important than my hatred of Optimus and Elita.

"Sentinel, was your trip to Earth safe?" Elita asked me once my team and I stopped at the bottom of the ship's gangplank. After I activated the gangplank to rise behind us, I answered her. "Yes. Our trip went as smoothly as it could." I then motioned to their team. "If you could, Optimus Prime, introduce yourself and your team to my own team before they reciprocate." Trying to keep it professional and quick. No excess talking or I could get in trouble. My team and I could get into trouble.

Optimus looked upset at my response before he nodded. "That does seem fair since we have the greater numbers."

"Though not the greater processor power for common sense my love." Trecke whispered while Optimus was telling his bots to introduce themselves to us.

I shook my helm but smirked. While Trecke still called me his love, which I was not, I had to admit that most of them didn't seem to have a lot of processor power to rub together.

Optimus then motioned to his troops. "We have our scout; Bumblebee." The yellow loudmouth then stepped forward. "Our warrior and space bridge expert Bulkhead." The green mech then took a step forward. "Our second in command; Elita-One Prime."

"Though you all can just call me Elita-One. Add the Prime and I'll make you regret it." She was smiling in what seemed to be a joking way as she said this. But, I could tell by the looks on my team that if she tried to follow up on that, they would tear her to shreds. That was a positive about having slightly mentally unstable bots on your team. If they were loyal…then they were loyal to a fault.

Optimus then took over again. "I am Optimus Prime and I am team leader." He then motioned to the cyber-ninja. "This is Prowl and he is a Cyber-Ninja." The motorcycle mech nodded his helm toward my team stiffly. Oh, he was just writing 'I am a target' all over him to my team. I already felt the helmache coming on. "This is Arcee and she is our team's intelligence agent." Right, like her file said.

Arcee then took over. "Oh, and one of our teammates, Sari Sumdac, was unable to come this solar to greet you. She had tutoring with her teacher-bot."

…Huh? I thought somebot was missing from this team line-up. Before I could think on that, Optimus turned to his medic. "And this is our medic; Ratchet."

"How is your psychotic aft on a team?" I practically jumped when Ratchet yelled that while pointing at Fable.

Trecke growled at that in return and took a step toward the medic. As much as I wanted to see Trecke defend Fable, however, I couldn't let energon be spilled during the first few clicks of our time here on Earth.

However, Fable had himself covered. "Old mech, it has been a while. I see your servo has been exchanged. I wondered when that would get fixed." He then smirked even wider. "As to why I'm on a team? Well, my precious leader graciously accepted my oath of fealty and now I get to play with so many limbs!"

Letting out a sigh, I decided that it would be best to introduce my team. "Before this gets out of servo, allow me to introduce my team." Yeah, before they went and drove Optimus' team insane. I decided to start with myself. "I am Sentinel Prime and I am the leader of my team." Then, I motioned to my right. "This is Trecke and he is my tactician."

"Oh my love you finally acknowledge me as yours!" I flinched as Trecke yelled that. Into my audio.

"He is not your love Trecke. Get that through that thick one-track processor of yours. Or maybe, I'll replace it." Fable bantered back at Trecke.

Of course, Trecke couldn't just stand down. "Our leader will always be my one true love! I shall be his lover yet!"

Before this could escalate further, I held up a servo in front of both of them. "Enough both of you." I then let out a sigh before motioning to my newest member. "And lastly, this is my medic; Fable. He swore an oath of fealty to me and I accepted it. Respect my team and," I then glanced specifically at Optimus and Elita. "I'll _try_ to respect most of yours."

I heard a soft scoff coming from the yellow scout and I had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well. "A team of only three bots and two are psychotic and he tells us he'll try to respect us? Big chin is an even bigger aft than we heard about."

…Oh slag.

Before I could move to stop him, Fable was away from my side and grabbed hold of the small scout before anybot on his side could react. "Listen here bug bot. While Trecke and I are pretty ready to admit that we are psychotic, please don't give me an excuse to act on it. Insulting my team leader like that is not a wise thing to do." He then smirked a dark smirk. "I will tear you apart joint casing by joint casing, and spread you across this entire planet in places that would make even the locals squirm in disgust and terror. A servo here, a digit there, an optic below, and each…little…denta…strung across the city like sparkling lights. Oh, the energon that could be spilled performing that dismemberment." Fable's grip then grew tighter and his optics widened maniacally. "Let's start now!"

Bumblebee screamed.

* * *

 **Fable: Oh the joy of being born into a story. So thrilling!**

 **Sentinel: *faceplate palms* I can't get away.**

 **Trecke: *smiles* My love we shall be together until the end of our solars!**

 **Authoress: *walks in* Well, I'm glad the three of you made it back here safely.**

 **Trecke: *smiles widely at Authoress* Oh my love my Authoress. How lovely you are this solar!**

 **Authoress: *smiles* I could get used to this.**

 **Sentinel: Vainglorious femme.**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the first official chapter of this story! Not much action, I know, but at least we got to meet the two other bots who make up Sentinel's team! Kinda off their rockers but that's what, in my opinion, makes them loveable! I just want to huggle them both!**

 ***coughs* Anyways, next chapter is going to have some exploration of Earth and more interactions between Optimus' team and Sentinel's team. Also, from this chapter on, we will have some more points of view besides Sentinel's. Should make this a lot more interesting.**

 **Well, that's all I have to say for now! Please drop a review, even to say hi! I have to be off though. It is passed midnight and I have an early morning...today. So, until next time, TTYL! *sings about pirates coming for me***


	4. New Technology

**AN: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Authoress: Well, this looks like it could be fun!**

 **Sentinel: *sighs* What are you planning?**

 **Authoress: *smirks* Oh...nothing much. Just some fun. *runs off***

 **Sentinel: *sighs longer* Oh, this will not be good.**

* * *

Ch. 2: New Technology

 **Fable's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I smirked as I sat on the back of the cement couch in the Autobot 'base' here in the human city of Detroit. This wasn't what I was expecting when our Prime said that we would be setting up base with his…'enemies'. Since we were all technically Autobots, the Decepticons were our one true enemies, but the two other Primes that we were currently having to work with were not far below Decepticons on my list to dissect.

They were responsible. The teammate that Trecke and I never met; Pandimala. She had been taken from this world before we were even allowed to meet her. From what little our leader has told us, this Pandimala would have been an amazing addition to our team and I knew that we would have liked her. Maybe, if she was as nice as Sentinel was saying, she would have let me switch around a few of her limbs. Oh, I wouldn't have touched her wings…I had studied enough on bots with flying alt modes to know that their wings were extremely sensitive. That would be painful for her. She would have been a teammate…family…I would not inflict pain on a family member. But, maybe exchanging one of her sharp servos with one of my leader's would give us an edge in our fighting.

However, that option was no more. The two glitches called Primes that we were here with saw to that with their poor choices. And, not only did our Prime have to suffer the loss of our first team member that day, but he has had to suffer the humiliation that their choice caused him. When I had gone into Iacon Central that solar in search of Sentinel Prime…I wasn't an idiot. Even I had been told about what had happened those many stellar cycles ago.

Well, I had been told the rumors anyways.

Sentinel Prime had taken his temporary assignment team, made up of the current Elita-One Prime and Optimus Prime, on a supply run to Vehicon. On the way back, they decided to detour to a forbidden planet, Archa 7, and they barely made it out alive. There had been a trial…of sorts, to determine the punishment for the three involved. In the end, the Council had decided on putting the three of them on planetary lockdown for five hundred stellar cycles and they had to pay a two thousand credit fine. For that kind of infraction, and what really happened, it was a light punishment.

However, from what I heard, Elita-One Prime and Optimus Prime had not been too happy about the restriction and had complained a lot…though my sources said that Elita One complained more than Optimus. I had looked into the two Primes to join but, seeing how they reacted to the Archa 7 incident, I had quickly decided to not offer my services to them. That was even more when they joined on a team together. From the information I got from my inside sources, some off world, at the time, it had been Elita-One Prime who had forced the trip to Archa 7.

However, I was surprised by how Sentinel Prime was handling the situation. Instead of being upset at the travel restriction he was under, the Prime had immediately dived into finding a team he could build. And even more to my surprise, the first bot that he accepted was Trecke. I had even heard of the bot and that, ever since he began boot camp, he had proclaimed his undying love to almost any bot that he met. Not the first bot that the average team leader would place on their team but Sentinel realized Trecke's brilliance as a tactician.

After that, I realized that I had to make sure that I got on his team. For hundreds of stellar cycles, I waited for my opportunity to present myself to the Prime. That time came when he was injured in a training session with Trecke. After compiling a resume of my skills and background, I infiltrated Iacon Central and made my way to the Prime. When I first say Sentinel, I knew that he was the Prime for me. My original plan had been to offer my fealty to him after I completed healing his arm. But, Avian's arrival slightly threw off my plan.

However, I used her arrival, along with Cranklock, Sunlock, and Scramble, to my advantage as witnesses to my fealty oath. When my precious leader accepted my oath, I knew that I had the correct Prime to serve under. I still hadn't completely figured out Trecke but I knew that it was only a matter of tie. We both respected our leader and that in itself told me that we would, one solar, become close allies and friends. It was just a matter of figuring Trecke out.

Movement out of the corner of my optics caused me to turn toward the entrance to the base. I couldn't stop the slow smirk from showing when I saw the black motorcycle mech. Prowl. Oh, the plans I had for him. I didn't get much chance to work with his frame type and, once I got him to sign some wavers, I would see just how a frame as lithe as his worked. But, that would take some time.

…Their team…Team Orion I believed was their official name in the Autobot database, was still mad at me for scaring that little yellow and black scout of theirs…Bumblebee. He was another one that I knew both Trecke and I would be having fun with. Anyways, our precious leader had to pull me off of the yellow mini-bot…though as far as I knew he hadn't apologized for my actions and I wasn't planning on doing so.

"Oh…you're here." Prowl stated toward me as a sort of greeting. Though it was a pretty week in my opinion.

So, I smirked toward the cyber-ninja. "Yes, I'm here. I'm surprised that more of you aren't around. Your team is rather large and all." I had been curious when I got here, since Sentinel was having us stay at the new base for now, that there was no bot else here. Not even the little techno-organic that we had not been allowed to meet yet.

In return, the cyber-ninja pointed toward the door. "I was told to come and get you. Sentinel says that you all brought new technology to share with us but he won't show us anything until you are at the park."

Ah, so my leader was looking for me. Guess he was also giving me a treat in sending the cyber-ninja to lead me to him instead of just sending me a map to this park. "I wish you would have said so immediately. My precious leader is waiting for me and I hate to keep him waiting." I then transformed into my new Earth mode, which was a classic 2016 Ford Raptor with an extended cab and bed. It wasn't the normal medic fare on this planet but, of course, I wasn't the normal sort of medic.

"It won't take us long to reach the park." Prowl informed me as we drove out of the base.

I smirked to myself and continued driving behind the motorcycle. "Oh, sometime here soon, I was hoping that you might sign some wavers for me. Simple ones that will let me work on you with more freedoms." I then paused and let him think about that before driving my point home. "Dismemberment is much too frowned upon these solars."

"No." Was Prowl's quick response to that last part before driving further ahead.

Oh well. I would get him to sign eventually. I almost got the big green one, Bulkhead, to sign the previous night cycle before Ratchet came in and stopped me. Fragging medic. But, I couldn't be too angry at the old bot. As much as he didn't like me, I respected his skills as a medic and his resilience to folding to the social norms of the solar. Quite the role model for me really. The medic himself wouldn't believe it however.

…Of course, my rearranging of his limbs might have helped that opinion. But, he did sign the waver. Actually…that waver was still effective, so I could mess with him some more. For now, however, I had to get more wavers signed. I wonder who among this Team Orion I could get to sign a waver?

It wasn't long before the cyber-ninja and I arrived at the park and, once we stopped, the two of us transformed before I made my way over to my team. I had missed being with them, as much as I was sure Trecke didn't miss me. "Oh joy. You're finally here." Trecke greeted me coldly. Yep, we were back to the normal fun.

"Sorry for coming late. Just wondering about my next project." I apologized to those gathered. My precious leader just sighed, Trecke shook his helm, and Team Orion looked like they were going to be steering clear of me if they could help it. That was good. I wanted to get them alone, and away from Ratchet, so I could get the wavers signed. But, for now, I had to behave and show these bots our new tech.

"It's fine Fable." Sentinel greeted me before turning to Team Orion. "Now that my entire team is here, we'll show you the new upgrade that was made to the soliform program." Sentinel then motioned to Trecke and I so the two of us nodded before transforming to our alt modes. Trecke was also a classic vehicle by being a 2017 Aston Martin Vantage AMR.

Once I was in vehicle mode, I started the new program procedure for the soliform system. It felt a little rough at first but, as I entered the specifics into the program based off of what I had seen in human culture, I soon designed myself a completely unique soliform that would be unique only to me. After a few nanos, I sent the command for the program to start the initialization of my new soliform. At the end, as it was starting to form, the program asked me the name of my soliform. Raum seemed like an interesting name so I chose that as my primary name, while the sire-name, Corvus seemed to fit. Once that was imputed, I looked through my soliform's eyes and up at my fellow Autobots surrounding me through blue optics. Those were very important to have because the new soliform program took features from our chassis that translated to the being in question, in this case optics with human eyes, and had them automatically put in. Though thankfully they did not translate the orange pupils I had in my bot mode.

"That's it?" Bumblebee asked, once again showing that he was quite skilled at opening his mouth before thinking. The idiot.

"No, that is not it." I glanced to my right and saw a man with teal colored hair, blue tinted glasses over his eyes, fair skin, and stood about five foot eight. Those glasses were very important to him and I would not ask him about them...yet. He had on a light blue shirt with teal colored jeans, a teal jacket, and a teal hat with a light blue ribbon around it. Around his neck was a scarf that was light blue and light tan stripped. I had no doubt in my processor that the man was Trecke. "I'm sure that my love would have explained this, but since my…comrade and I are in this form it would be best if we explained this." Well, he didn't call me an idiot. That's a start. "One new change with the soliform program is that you must name it."

The smell of something cooking nearby caused me to glance and see a food stand nearby selling an item that I was sure was called a 'hot-dog'. That would help. So, since I wasn't being paid attention to, I made my way over to it.

"What's your soliform called?" Since I was walking backwards toward the stand, I saw that it was the techno-organic called Sari who asked that.

By that point, I had arrived at the hot-dog stand and used an allowance that my precious leader had given me to purchase two of these things, plain, for myself and Trecke's soliform…who I hoped he said his name soon.

Once I paid the man behind the cart and he handed me two of the wrapped concoctions, I made my way back over to Trecke as he answered he. "My name in this form is Micha Forfax." Micha Forfax. It seemed to fit Trecke quite well. The name was almost rolling off of my human glossa. Thankfully, I was able to hold myself back as I arrived back with the group.

"Where did you get those?" Elita-One Prime asked me with surprise. Must not be the most observant on her team. I had been gone a while and I hadn't even tried to hide that I was leaving the area. Usually, I didn't want to be seen moving about. But, just to get these hot-dogs, I didn't really mind. "I just moved to that stand over there and purchased them. Smell quite amazing to be honest." I then smirked and bowed my head. Thankfully, my top-hat didn't come off. "I am called Raum Corvus in this form." My gray gloved hands, with red fingertips, extended out as I bowed to them. On my back, I felt the black short cloak that I was wearing fall in front of my gray long-sleeved shirt. I wore dark gray jeans with a black belt. Over my shirt, I was wearing a medium gray vest that was made out of leather. I was unique and I wanted to make sure that this world knew it.

"Raum Corvus?" Bumblebee questioned me.

Like he was one to judge my name. "Yes, that is my name in this form. You had better get used to it. I plan on many experiments in this form as well." And boy was I. Could I take off the limbs of these upgraded soliforms as smoothly as I could in our true bodies?

"What do you mean?" The one called Arcee asked me.

Thankfully, it was our leader who responded as I handed one of the hot dogs to Micah…or Trecke in his actual form. "We are going to be the only two teams, for now, with the upgraded soliform technology. While we use these forms, the science division wants us all to immerse ourselves in human society and learn as much as we can so we can send the data to them. From that data, the science division can make a more comprehensive analysis of organic beings for the soliform program. From the little that they learned from Sari Sumdac, they have upgraded the soliform program that we will be using with a very unique programing."

I heard a gasp from the bots on Team Orion as Micah and I started to eat the hot-dogs that I had bought. While I wanted to leave them in the amazed stupor that they were in, I knew that our precious leader would not be happy with me if I did. "Don't worry Team Orion. The new soliform program has a sequence of code that allows us to, not only eat organic food, but to convert that food into energon for our actual chassis. It's quite amazing really. These hot-dogs aren't as bad tasting as they might appear." I then took another bite of the protein giving food item. "Though it might be missing something. I'll have to dismember one of these in the future to see if I can't learn their secret."

There was a slight pause before our leader spoke. "There's the program. My team and I will, from now on, be leaving our chassis on the ship and exploring Earth solely in this form. In the case of an emergency, we will transfer ourselves to our chassis and be sent in as soon as possible." With a servo signal from Sentinel, and with the fact that Trecke and I had finished our hot-dogs, the two of us deactivated the program. The return to our chassis was a lot smoother…in my opinion. Once I was in my chassis, I transformed and stood by our leader as he continued talking. "For now, we will return to our base and plan."

With the understood order from our leader, the three of us transformed before we moved toward the new base's location. It was secluded on the west side of town and, if we were lucky, far enough away from the other Autobot base where they wouldn't come bothering us that much. While I didn't mind messing with them in public or at their base, I knew that our leader was going to be looking at our base as a sort of retreat from them.

It wasn't long before the three of us were pulling in through the base's main door and, once the door shut behind us, we transformed before starting to walk toward the training rooms. It was sixteen hundred currently and that meant that it was time for training exercises. Even though we were on Earth, we knew that our leader was not going to sit by and let our skills get rusty.

We had heard the stories of Optimus' team, playing monitor games…which the humans called video games, and painting, and just goofing off most of the time. While there was a time for that, approximately nineteen hundred to twenty-three hundred and from zero six hundred to zero nine hundred, an Autobot needed to keep trained. Even more importantly, Autobot teams needed to make sure that they practiced together so they constantly knew how to react to their teammates on the battlefield.

"So my love…and Fable," I smirked a little wider as Trecke started off with that, "what practice scenario will we be using this solar?"

There were so many to choose from and, honestly, I didn't know if I could pick a certain scenario to practice on. Thankfully, our leader was able to find an answer to Trecke's question. "Since we face the possibility of fighting the Decepticon higher command here on Earth, I believe that we should run through exercise thirteen."

Exercise thirteen was the simulation of the battle of Iacon. It had been a brutal battle and, honestly, it was one of the few points when the Autobot faction felt like we might lose the fight for Cybertron against the Decepticons. However, the opponents would react based on how our team reacted. It was an appropriate simulation given the current situation. Although, with the stress of having to deal with Optimus and Elita, another option he could have picked was the betrayal scenario. It was a scenario where we had to battle a randomly selected 'rogue' team of Autobots. I had only been in one of those with our team, but the 'rogue' team that we had faced, Team Vulcan, had been difficult to fight. I wondered what they were really like.

But, that wasn't important right now. The only thing that I needed to focus on at the click was this training simulation that we were about to start. Once Sentinel had punched in our training exercise into the computer, I followed Sentinel and Trecke into the room. The Council had placed many credits into building this place and we would make sure that they were used.

"Sentinel," I started as the simulator loaded. "What are your orders going to be involving our interactions with Team Orion?" We needed to know how Sentinel truly wanted us to interact with this team. We asked him this with every Team we met. Some, he just told us to have fun with and get to know. Others, like Team Viron, he told us to stay as far away from as we possibly could. So, I was curious as to what his orders would be about Team Orion, given our team's history with them before my on the team.

"Team Orion?" Sentinel re-questioned before he answered. "I wouldn't go so far as to say for you to hang out with them casually like we do Team Athenia. But, we can trust them in battle situations. Give them fun scrap every once in a while."

Perfect. I was going to have so much fun with them. "My love, I believe we are about to begin." Trecke pointed out as the room went dark besides the hologram lights. Once those formed more, then the room we were in would be transformed into the battle ground.

"Let's focus bots." Sentinel ordered us as the simulation started up. "We need to," Then, before we knew it, the systems in the room cut out the main lights came on.

Then, the alarms started sounding in the base. "What the frag is going on here?" I asked as ii glanced around the room.

I was hoping for our leader to give an answer. But, he seemed to be thinking on something. This was not the time for that. But, I wasn't sure how to get his to focus. After a click and he didn't say anything, Trecke tried to snap him out of it. "My love, what is the problem?"

Sentinel immediately shook his helm and glanced toward the east of Detroit, before saying, "Prepare for battle. The new base's scanners have picked up Decepticon approach from the East. If we move now we can cut them off at the docks before they get inside the city." The Earthlings were still a little touchy about us fighting in their cities due to all the damage that came when Team Orion captured Megatron here on Earth. So, it was better to avoid the fight if we could.

And how Sentinel knew that the enemy was attacking? Well, when we had gotten Team Orion out of the base last night, Sentinel had set his private message system to sync with the base security system. Something he said he picked up in one of his more obscure academy classes. This allowed him to receive the emergency notifications even faster than normal. This way, like now, we could react faster than the average team.

"Then we can't delay anymore." I said before following my leader out of the doors. We needed to get into this Decepticon fighting action to show them what our team could do. I couldn't wait for it to start!

Imagine all the Decepticons I could dismember!

* * *

 **Fable: Oh, this was exciting! *smirks***

 **Authoress: *smiles* And more goodies to come for you Fable.**

 **Trecke: *feeling left out* What about me?**

 **Authoress: *smiles* Oh, don't worry Trecke. Your time will come. That I promise you.**

 **Sentinel: *frowns* Why doesn't that sound good?**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter of this story! I hope you all enjoyed this! This time, we were in Fable's point of view and it seemed like an adventure. But, there were some questions that were brought up as well.**

 **First off is Trecke. What is Trecke hiding behind those glasses? That will be a question that will take some time to answer but it will bring along some interesting developments. Also, why does Trecke seem to hate Fable on a personal level? I'm kinda curious about that as well.**

 **Then, we have Fable. What is his role in this going to build up to? He seems to be a very calculating sort of medic and that will do him well later...maybe.**

 **But, it looks like we are going to be having Decepticon interactions next chapter! Should be a lot of fun! *imagining Fable scene and laughing maniacally***

 **Anyways, that's all for now. I hope you all enjoyed this! Also, please leave a review! I likes the reviews very much. Even if they say hi! Well, that's all I have for now. TTYL! *about to work on something else***


	5. Psychotic Madness

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

* * *

 **Authoress: Oh! I am so excited for this! So much chaos to come!**

 **Sentinel: *glances at Authoress* You aren't going to make your readers become mentally unstable...are you?**

 **Authoress: *smirks* It depends. I honestly found this chapter to be very refreshing and I am going to enjoy this.**

 **Trecke: *thinks* My love, basing on the Authoress' reaction to past times, I have a feeling that her lovely self may be scarring her readers.**

 **Sentinel: *faceplate-palms* Of course she is.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Psychotic Madness

 **Megatron's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I focused as I surveyed the battlefield in front of me. Team Orion, which I found out was the name of the Prime's team that first defeated me here on this planet, was here and actively fighting my troops. While I watched them, however, I found myself wondering. How was I defeated by this team in the first place? They seemed disorganized and didn't seem to have the capacity to fight as a solid functioning unit.

There were small groups of them that worked alright together, however. The two Primes seemed to be able to predict each other. Their designations were Optimus and Elita if I remembered correctly. They seemed like the most trained warriors against us right now, but it wasn't much. They were facing Starscream and he didn't seem to be having too much difficulty with the two of them.

Then there was the group of the space bridge technician and supposed 'warrior' of the team and this team's supposed 'scout'. However, while the two of them seemed to work alright together, their training was severely lacking. The yellow and black bot didn't seem to have many qualities that a scout was supposed to have. He was loud, impatient, and seemed to miss many details in fighting that would be helping both himself and his partner fight Shockwave and Blitzwing. Then the 'warrior' himself didn't seem to know much about fighting period. Sure, he was throwing punches, but they were clumsy and skewed. Both of their names were Bumblebee and Bulkhead…the scout and the warrior respectively.

Lockdown seemed to be the only one having a real challenge with his fight, and it was against the cyber-ninja known as Prowl and the intelligence agent called Arcee. It was strange but, from the files we had, Prowl was a bot who preferred to work as alone as possible. Yet, he was working very well with the femme called Arcee, who was the newest bot to join this team. However, Lockdown didn't seem to be in any danger from the two and he seemed to be enjoying the challenge. No need for me to jump in.

Like the old medic, Ratchet, and the young techno-organic known as Sari Sumdac, I was watching the battle in case I needed to step in. Even a lucky hit from this team could hurt one of my Decepticons and I had to be ready to jump in.

I was not perfect, that I knew. I had fallen from what I had been fighting against and I had dragged the Decepticons with me. Instead of fighting against tyranny and the class system, I had become the very embodiment of it. Still to this solar I did not know how I was still followed by the loyal bots that I had. Now I had to make amends.

When I had first escaped from Trypticon Prison, with the help of a very unexpected ally, I had planned on meeting with the rest of the Decepticons gathered on the planet Chaar. However, I realized that something drew me back to this planet and, from experiences in my distant past, I knew to never ignore those kinds of feelings. So, I had set our ship on a course to this planet. We were able to arrive undetected and our new base here on Earth was almost complete. Once that was done, then I would work on increasing the number of Decepticons here. Earth, already having a space bridge, would make an ideal location to take over and act as a transport point to attack Cybertron. I would return my Decepticons to Cybertron one solar. They deserved that and more and, as their leader, I would give it to them.

"Augh!" I glanced toward the fight between Shockwave, Blitzwing, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee and saw that they scout had taken a hit from Shockwave's cannon. Not enough to offline him immediately, but I saw that the medic and the techno-organic were already running to the yellow and black bot while the big bot, Bulkhead, knocked Shockwave out of the way.

However, Blitzwing was able to punch the big bot out of the way and, slowly, Blitzwing approached the medic, techno-organic, and the injured scout. I could see that Random was the predominate personality out for the triple changer and that meant that this was going to be interesting. Since the others were stable on their fights, I paid attention as Blitzwing drew closer to the three bots.

" _Oh! Lookie at zhe bots here!"_ Random let out with a laugh. " _Zhey're just like a bunch of piñatas!"_ He then let out another laugh before I heard the telltale sign of his faceplate changing.

" **Shut up jou idiot!"** Hothead growled as he cracked his knuckle joints. **"Ve need to take zhese Autobots out of zhe picture! I'm going to crush zhem to pieces! Zhey'll be nozhing but iron filings when I am done vith zhem!"**

Random then took back over. _"Just like servo salad! I love servo salad! Especially wizh zhe iron filings!"_ He then let out another laugh.

"Oh, but you left out the best part of a servo salad!" I jumped, and so did most of the others, when a new voice said that. Was there somebot else here? I took a glance out at the battlefield near Blitzwing and I found my answer as a black truck with red and gray markings suddenly sped toward Blitzwing before it transformed. The mech that used to be the truck landed on Blitzwing's shoulders before leaning to look at Blitzwing's faceplate. "You forgot the wing-bit croutons!"

Who the frag was that?! **"Get off my shoulders, jou slagging Autobot!"** Hothead yelled as he stumbled backward. This new mech was punching the sides of Blitzwing's helm and he looked like he was in trouble. Who was this new mech? I hadn't seen him before and, just from that sentence, he seemed as crazy as Blitzwing was. That wasn't something that you normally saw from the Autobots. They usually didn't tolerate bots that were 'different'.

But, my soldier was in trouble and, since the Autobot Bulkhead was starting to get up, I needed to get into the battle. Taking out one of my swords, I charged forward to intercept the big bot. Blitzwing would be able to get the smaller psychotic mech off his shoulders.

However, before I got that far, two more vehicles arrived and transformed. One I recognized as the Prime known as Sentinel. He had only been on Earth a few times, but he seemed to be more observant this time around. Could the strange mech that attacked Blitzwing be one of this Prime's teammates? And who was the dark teal car mech with sea green and tan markings?

"My love, Fable is making a nuisance of himself again." The teal mech addressed Sentinel Prime. Love? Maybe there was more than one unstable mech on the Autobot side. Seemed impossible but I hadn't even expected one, nevertheless two. But, since there was one, then there wouldn't be much of a stretch to think that there were two of them.

Sentinel Prime glanced at Fable, who was now on ground level fighting Blitzwing while Bulkhead tried to keep up with Shockwave, before he shook his helm. "Fable is doing alright for now Trecke, where does the situation look like we should interfere?"

This Prime was more…focused, then I remembered him being. I had a feeling that he was the leader of the team that was made up of this Fable character and this Trecke character. Not the sort of bots that I pictured on the blue, silver, and orange bot's team but, from how they were working together, I could tell that they were in sync. The mech facing Blitzwing, Fable, would use pauses in his fight to glance toward Sentinel and Trecke to see how he should move. As for the other two,

I brought up one of my blades as Trecke slashed at me with both of his. Did he really expect to land that hit? "Maybe next time little Autobot." I taunted him as I threw him back.

"Like now?" I glanced down with slightly widened optics as the Prime charged at me with his shield exposed and, before I could react, he slammed me with his shield, sending me sliding back quite a few paces.

That was nicely planned. The mech Trecke seemed to have attacked me in a flurry to join the battle but he was ready with a plan that allowed the Prime to hit me with an attack and send me back. We had to reevaluate the situation on Earth, and quickly. This new team was not on my radar before this solar and I could see now that I needed to find out more about them. They were organized, and, unlike Optimus' team, they seemed capable of working together smoothly.

Movement from in front of me caused me to take out my second sword. I tried to not fight with a dual-sword technique often since it was difficult to manage, and I usually needed to use only one on my enemies. However, I had to use both swords to block the attacks that were launched simultaneously by Sentinel Prime and Trecke. While they didn't cause me to lose any more ground, I was having to focus to hold them both back.

After a bit, I was able to shove the two Autobots back and launch into the air. This fight was not what it started out as and I needed to pull my Decepticons out now. "Decepticons, fall back to base now." I then waited for the others to react to my order.

Starscream reacted first by disengaging with Optimus Prime and Elita-One Prime before grabbing Lockdown, who had disengaged from his fight, and jumping into the air. Then, Shockwave stood back from his fight and moved over to Blitzwing, who had just thrown the mech called Fable from his shoulders…again. Once Shockwave was by Blitzwing, Blitzwing grabbed the mech before jumping into the air.

Of course, Blitzwing wanted to get the last word in. "We'll finish this later…Fable." Then, Icy was replaced by Random. " _Zhen, we get to do some more cha-cha-cha!"_ Random then let out a cackle of laughter

In return, the Autobot smirked at the triple changer. "You can count on that Blitzwing baby!" The Autobot then started to laugh as uncontrollably as Random normally did. I needed to do some more research on this seemingly three-bot team. For now, though, we needed to return to the base.

 **Trecke's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I watched with careful optics as the Decepticons disappeared in the horizon. That was a strange confrontation with them. When we had left the base, I had advised Sentinel to send Fable ahead of us to take in the battle and to help with injuries, if there were any that needed his attention. My love and leader agreed with this strategy and sent Fable ahead of us to report back how the battle was faring. From what he sent before interjecting in the battle was not promising for us. Optimus' 'super team', as I heard them called on Cybertron before we had left, were fighting poorly. According to Fable's report to me, they didn't seem to be fighting as a team but, instead, as individual units.

So, Fable had been his annoying self and had distracted the triple changer from taking advantage of a break in the battle that leaned in the favor of the Decepticons. My…teammate had then proceeded to take on the triple changer as Sentinel and I arrived. While I felt it was reckless, my leader seemed to realize that pitting one psychotic maniac against another was probably the best way to approach this situation.

And my love and leader seemed to be correct in this decision. Fable was able to keep the equally insane Decepticon at bay while my love and I joined forces and attacked the leader of the Decepticons. When we had pulled up to the battle, I saw that Megatron was on edge and would probably be prepared for a head-on attack. So, I had told my leader that he should follow in behind me, so I could act as a bluff until my love could come up to us. Megatron would not be prepared for two attacks coming one right after the other. I was proven right, and my love was able to push the leader of the Decepticons back in a fair fight.

Now, however, there were tensions between our team and Team Orion. Their medic, Ratchet, had just finished patching up Bumblebee and now our two teams were facing each other. I bet they were now realizing how unremarkable their battle skills truly were. The great Team Orion, the team that brought down Megatron and his top lieutenants. Ha! From what I had been seeing so far, my love, Fable, and I could have done a much better job of defeating Megatron than these idiots were. However, since they had, these fools were arrogant. Oh, I planned on teasing these Autobots…calling them my love and all. But I wouldn't mean it like I did with everybot else I met.

These…I was hesitant to even call them Autobots but that was the best that I had, the leader of these Autobots and his second in command were responsible for the offlining of the first member that my love and leader had added onto our team. That was a crime that even Fable, the slagger, couldn't commit. While I wasn't a fan of Fable, he was just as loyal to our leader as I was. That allowed me to tolerate him. I knew why I couldn't try to like Fable. He was too close to,

"Well you all took your sweet time getting here." Elita-One Prime huffed at us. I could see that she had a few scrapes but nothing that would warrant her to talk like that. If any of these bots had a right to be upset at our late arrival, it would be the yellow scout with a big mouth. He had been injured right before our arrival and that injury may have been prevented if we had been here faster. To my surprise, however, the yellow bot was keeping quiet and kept glancing between Fable and me. From the almost panicked look in his optics, I had a feeling that he was wondering which of us two would remind that ignorant femme of the situation in the battle when we did arrive. "We pretty much had the Decepticons on the run and then you three just decide to just waltz in."

A growl slipped my vocals at the insult against my love. Sentinel Prime was worthier of his title than the two of them put together and I would not take it any longer. It looked like I would snap first. "I doubt that the Decepticons would have left if we hadn't had showed up. You all look worse than," My leader holding up his servo caused me to pause in my speaking before I glanced at him. He looked like he was barely restraining himself and my outburst wasn't helping. When I glanced at Fable, I could see that he was planning something. Since I had taken care of the outburst retaliation, I was sure that Fable would deal with her himself later.

But, we had to be wary. Our Prime was uncomfortable in this situation as it was, and we shouldn't give the other two Primes too much ammunition to use against him. We had to protect him. The two of us had sworn our very sparks to him and I knew that we would both protect him…even at the cost of our own.

For now, though, we had to get through this challenge. "Optimus, are your teammates alright?" My love asked the other Prime slowly and deliberately.

In return, the red and blue Prime nodded. "Yes. Bumblebee will have to be scanned when we get back to base and maybe have a few minor repairs, but he will be fine. How about your team?"

Sentinel took a quick glance at Fable and I before saying, "We are well. Since we had this battle with the Decepticons, I believe I will allow my team to have the rest of the solar to explore the city, whether that be in their bot forms or in their soliform. I will be exploring this city as well." That was a fine way for our leader to tell us that he would prefer that Fable and I explore the city in our soliforms, and away from him. That would give him some time to gather his thoughts about the battle.

It would also allow Fable and me to have some fun and absorb some human culture at the same time. I wasn't sure about Fable, but I was going to return to base and drop off my body before I used my soliform and explored. Humans had a few hubs of intelligence, one called the internet, and as a tactician, I needed to learn about different approaches to tactics, and I had a feeling that human ones would be unique.

 **Bumblebee's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I couldn't stop thinking. It was weird. When I usually finished fighting the Decepticons, I usually wanted to talk about how much fun it was to fight and how good I did. But, as I sat here on the med berth, I couldn't think about anything like that. Sentinel's team…they were interesting. Yeah, they both scared me at times…especially their medic…Fable, but this solar caused me to realize that they were more than psychotic mechs.

While Elita wasn't happy that Sentinel's team had shown up later than we thought they would, I had a view that showed me that they really were a team. Since they didn't have a scout yet, Fable had acted as their scout…my position, and had seen that we weren't doing as well in the battle as Elita and Optimus would have us believe. So, he had waited for the right moment before he had intercepted Blitzwing and, while that scene of the to psychotic mechs would give me nightmares, Fable had been able to keep Blitzwing away from us while Ratchet worked on healing me.

Then, Sentinel and Trecke had come onto the field and had gone after Megatron…the only Decepticon that wasn't participating in the battle yet. Trecke had attacked first, which had distracted Megatron, before he caused Megatron to move in a way that opened him up to attack from Sentinel. They had worked like they were reading each other's processors. From where I was laying so Ratchet could patch me up, I could watch as Fable, Sentinel, and Trecke kept checking on each other with looks. They were keeping tabs on each other.

When I thought back to when I was fighting Blitzwing, I realized that I had only been focused on fighting Blitzwing. I didn't know how any bot else on my team had been fighting and if they might have needed help. They could have been in trouble and I wouldn't have had any idea.

"Kid, you look too deep in thought." I jumped and looked up to see Ratchet walking up to me with his scanner. I laid down as Ratchet started to scan my chassis. "So, what has your processor working overtime?"

I glanced up at Ratchet and realized that he was the only one among us that had any past interaction with one of the other bots on Sentinel's team besides Sentinel. "Hey Ratch, how did you meet Sentinel's medic?"

The old medic looked like he wanted to offline me for a nano. But then he grew a thoughtful look, which was kinda scary, before saying, "Well, I haven't known him long. When we returned with Megatron, I was visiting one of my past apprentices at Maccadams when a brawl broke out. My apprentice had immediately jumped in and I had to try and drag her out. Unfortunately, my wrist joint got injured. I didn't know the mech was psychotic at the time but he was there and saw that I was injured. He gave me a datapad to sign and asked me to read it first. Well, I didn't want to waste time in reading the datapad and just signed it. I figured it was a waver to make sure that Fable wouldn't be blamed if something went wrong that he couldn't have prevented. But, he ended up taking off my servo."

"He took it off right there?" I asked in surprise. The mech was crazy, but I didn't think he would have taken Ratchet's servo off right there at Maccadams.

Ratchet then nodded his helm. "Scared me that's for sure. But, in hindsight, he did remove it perfectly. He fixed it away from my chassis and I just sat there and watched. It felt different to see my servo being fixed away from my chassis. He put a dummy servo on my arm and I had to find another medic to undo the work since the bouncers at Maccadams had already removed Fable before he could finish. I didn't realize that he was a part of Sentinel's team until he walked off their ship the other solar." Ratchet then looked back at me. "But, why do you want to know about Fable?"

I glanced away from Ratchet for a nano before looking back at him. This wasn't going to be easy to admit out loud but it was what I felt and I had a feeling that Ratchet might understand what I was going through. "Well, I was watching them during the fight with the Decepticons and…well…the three of them seemed like a better team than all of us are."

Instead of lecturing me, Ratchet gave me a curious look before walking up to the monitor. "What do you mean by that Bumblebee?"

"What I mean is that they work better together as a group than we do. Yeah, I know we took down Megatron and his team before, but that was a lot of luck. We didn't have the kind of training that we needed to take on Megatron back then." This was hard for me to say. I was really proud of being able to say that I was able to be a part of the team that took down Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons. "But, we were losing Ratchet. Then I got hurt and, if it wasn't for Sentinel's team showing up when they did, then we might have lost really bad." I then sat up and looked at Ratchet, who I noticed was staring at me. "They were always checking on each other's condition while they were fighting and they were working in sync to push back the Decepticons."

Ratchet stayed quiet for a few clicks before he finally answered me. "Bumblebee, I'm surprised that you are the first one to talk to me about this. I noticed it back when we were fighting Megatron before, but our team is not as cohesive as it could be. From what I know, Sentinel has spent hundreds of stellar cycles looking for his perfect team. From what I have heard, after he accepted Trecke onto his team, he immediately began training with Trecke whenever they could. They were in the training rooms at least twice a solar and they practice however they can. I have no doubt that he has done the same with Fable. They put in hard training on simulators that push bots to their very limits."

That explained a lot. They were used to fighting with each other in the simulators and they were able to use that on the battlefield. However, I had a couple more questions that I hoped Ratchet would answer. "Ratchet…why do you think Sentinel hates our team so much? I mean, I get that we aren't as active as his team is when it comes to training, but that doesn't excuse how he has been treating us."

To my surprise, Ratchet looked at me in shock. "You mean you don't…?" Ratchet then paused. I don't what? Ratchet couldn't leave me hanging! "No, I guess you are too young to really have heard about what happened." Ratchet then walked next to the med berth I was on and sat on the one next to me. "Bumblebee, did you know that Optimus, Elita, and Sentinel were a part of a temporary team together when they became Primes?"

Yeah, I knew that. Boss bot told us when Sentinel first came with the Elite Guard and Sentinel avoided boss bot like the Cybonic Plague. "Yeah, Optimus said something about it when Sentinel first came here with the Elite Guard. Why?"

Ratchet then sighed. "Now before I start, realize that I don't have all the information. This is just what I heard." I nodded, wanting to hear the story. "About fifty stellars after the three of them became Prime, they were asked to make a supply run to the planet Vehicon. The run went fine but then one of the three suggested a trip to the Archa system…and specifically Archa 7. Archa 7 was an organic planet and so it was off-limits at the time. No bot else besides those three know what happened while they were there but, when they returned, they were punished by the council and their reputations were hurt badly."

"Do you think boss bot would tell us what happened? Like really happened?" I asked Ratchet.

The old medic shook his helm. "No. I tried once. He just got nervous and gave me a run-around answer before he changed the subject. Elita did the same. But, after the trial, Sentinel cut ties with Optimus and Elita and focused on making his team."

So, the only bot that might give me any information was Sentinel…and I could bet he wouldn't be sharing anything with us anytime soon. So, I moved on to my next question. "Ratchet, why did you stop Bulkhead from signing Fable's release form?" The mech had asked me to sign one but, since Ratchet had stopped Bulkhead from signing, I figured I had better not sign until I asked Ratchet why.

That turned Ratchet's mood to worried as he looked at me. "Why? You didn't sign one did you?" I shook my helm at that and he relaxed. Were they really that bad? "While I can't stop you from signing one, I want you to promise me that you will read it carefully and make sure you understand everything that is being said."

Right. Like I was going to read everything. "Why?" I asked him.

Ratchet gave me a look before taking a datapad out of his subspace. He handed it to me and I realized that this was a copy of the release he signed for Fable. "Look at this. I didn't read it until after Fable was taken out but I pretty much gave Fable permission to tear me apart limb to limb and then put me back together in any way that he wanted. I doubted that Bulkhead read the form and I bet that the mech has changed his form since I signed it. Read it if you think about signing it."

Okay, that might make me want to read the stupid form. I didn't want to be pede-less and servo-less! But, as I looked at Ratchet's form…I noticed something weird. "Hey Ratchet," He looked at me hesitantly now. Guess I was pushing my question asking limit. But…this was kind of important to him.

"What?" He asked me, probably to get me to answer.

I showed his release to him before saying, "Did you realize that there isn't an expiration date on this?"

His optics widened before he snatched the release from my servos and read it. And then read it again. And then he stood up in a panic. "I'm going to offline that medic if it's the last thing I do!" He yelled that as he ran out of the med bay.

…so, he really didn't read it.

 **Fable's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I whistled as I strolled into the human park in my soliform. While it was tempting to stay in my bot form and harass Optimus' team more, I could see that my leader was near a breaking point and he needed to relax a bit. So, it would be best if I was in this form and explored. This human world was interesting, and I had a feeling that its people had a lot to teach even beings like us. We just had to learn to listen to them.

Once I was done walking around the park, I would check out one of their medical institutions. Human medicine seemed interesting and I wanted to make sure that I understood all that I could.

Of course, I was interested in more than just the medical aspect of human life. As I walked further into the park, I saw groups of humans participating in different physical activities with each other. Some were passing a strange orange sphere that bounced between each other. I would have to dissect that object to see if I could figure out how it works. Then, another group of humans was tossing a flat disc that was made of plastic between each other and, occasionally, their four-legged animal companion which I believed was called a 'dog'.

My thoughts were interrupted as the orange spherical object rolled to a stop in front of me. I picked it up and noticed that it had a slightly bumpy texture. When I dropped it, the sphere made a boing sound as it hit the ground before it returned to me. From the sound, I could tell that the sphere was filled with air. That might explain some of the properties of the sphere that I didn't understand.

"Hey dude, can you pass the ball?" I glanced up and saw a group of males who were around the same age that I made my soliform. The male in the middle of the group had his servo, which they called hands, raised into the air and was waving it at me. Since they were asking for this ball back, I guess it would not be nice to dissect it right now. So, I tossed the ball to them. Thankfully, I threw the 'ball' correctly and the one who had his servo up caught it. "Thanks, man!" The same male yelled.

I nodded toward them. "You are welcome!" I called back. According to Sentinel's notes from visiting this planet, that was the correct response. From how they waved and returned to their game, that seemed like the correct response.

Well, it seemed like I was ready to interact with humanity. So, I took a step back to return to the path when I bumped into someone and they let out a femme-like yelp. I turned around and saw a young human femme sitting on the ground with her bag next to her. She must have fallen when I ran into her. She had long golden brown hair and her fleshy covering was a pale color.

"Sorry! I should have been watching where I was going!" She apologized.

I shook my head and grabbed her bag before I offered her a hand to assist her in getting up. "No, I should have looked behind me before I walked. Are you alright?"

She took my hand and I helped her stand as she answered. "Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks for helping me up."

"It was no problem." I laughed before I motioned to myself. "My name is Raum Corvus. May I have your name?"

This human femme studied me for a nano before she smiled and nodded. "It's nice to meet you Raum, and of course you can." She then motioned to herself before she answered. "My name is Lizzie Val."

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 **Authoress: Oh, I think I just had some more fun!**

 **Fable: *confused* I don't understand how? *thinks* *smirks* Can I dissect you for the information?**

 **Authoress: *sighs* No Fable. You are not allowed to dissect me.**

 **Sentinel: Even though sometimes he should.**

 **Authoress: *offended* Hey! That wasn't nice!**

 **Trecke: But you didn't say that it wasn't true?**

 **Authoress: *thinks* *shrugs***

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 **AN: And here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! I know I did. Lots of psychotic shenanigans right off the bat! What is Megatron going to do now that there is a new team...and one that might pose an even greater threat than Optimus'? Who can say for sure? Then we see some tensions in Trecke's view that might have held some small details for later. But those aren't important...right? Now, I did finally go to the point of view of a different character; Bumblebee! He seems to have noticed how Sentinel's team works and he is curious about it. Of course, the Autobots may have to worry about Ratchet killing Fable next time the two medics meet. XD Now, I don't think there was anything else that was important...**

 **...well, they were important but I can't be saying much right now. I wonder how events are going to take place here in the future? Next chapter is going to be a blast though! Speaking on next chapter, however, I have decided to implement the sneak peek policy that I have started on Resolve of One. I will give you the names of the next two chapters and then leave you hanging for more. Of course, names can be deceiving so be careful with them. XD**

 **Chapter 4: On Friendly Terms**

 **Chapter 5: Meeting the Apocalypse**

 **Chapter 6:...? (find out next time!)**

 **That's all for now though. I hope you will all leave a review for me, even to say hi! I like reviews. They drive me to update sooner! Well, that's all for now. Until next time, TTYL! *listens to talk about crusades***


	6. On Friendly Terms

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

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 **Trecke: *looking* Authoress my love, you seem to have had fun with this chapter.**

 **Authoress: *nods* I sure did Trecke. A lot of strange and unexpected twists and turns! Hope you all enjoy. XD**

 **Sentinel: *frowns* Authoress...no smiley faces. You know better than that.**

 **Authoress: *pouts* Fine.**

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 **AN: And here is a where I respond to reviews I couldn't respond to personally. =)**

 **Solarwave: Thank you so much for reviewing! I can't say whether or not Pandimala is alive. That's going to be part of the fun of this story. Who is really around and what are they hiding. That is probably going to be a question you are going to want to ask yourself as these chapters move on.**

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Chapter 4: On Friendly Terms

 **Fable's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

I smiled as I studied the human femme in front of me. This was perfect. This specimen seemed nice enough so far, for a human, and I bet she could help me learn more about this planet. If she continued to impress me like she already had, then I might even tell her that I wasn't so human. But, until then, I figured that I had best get this introduction stage finished. "It is nice to meet you as well Lizzie."

To my surprise, she stared at me for a few more seconds in silence before she spoke. "You're not from around here are you?"

Well, this was a surprise! I wonder what gave me away? The soliform program, so far, seemed accurate on human biology and anatomy. Maybe it was in the way I walked? I did notice that humans seemed to have different gaits depending on certain traits that I was starting to pick up on. So, I smirked and leaned against the bench that we ended up standing by. "Well, I have to say I'm quite surprised that you found me out so quickly. I am one of the new Autobots that arrived last solar…yesterday is the term in your words I think."

Adding onto my surprise, she stared at me in shock for a second. "Wow. I was just saying that I was pretty sure you weren't from Detroit. But, I guess I was more right than I realized."

Ah. It seemed like my processor got ahead of the facts and added up the situation wrong. Oh well. I wasn't the tactician of the team, or any other position that was like that for that matter, so it wasn't a blow to my ego. "I guess I walked into that one. This has taught me that I should be more guarded with how I speak. Thank you for that."

She smiled and let out a laugh. "No problem! It's fun to show that we humans have more to us than being small and made of flesh." She then continued to laugh.

I left the smirk on my face but I was running through an idea in my processor. She seemed to be open to the idea that I am an Autobot so she might be what I need to teach me a thing or two about being around humans. This was perfect. While fate wasn't always my best friend, I figured that I could stop dissecting it for a bit thanks to this.

"Say, I have an idea if you are interested?" I asked her.

In return, Lizzie looked back at me and seemed to quickly study me before she nodded with a smirk that probably tried to match my own. I doubted that any human could match my smirk. But, she did a decent job. Too bad Sentinel confirmed to me that humans were not dissectible like Cybertronians were. Oh well. There was more than one way to dissect something and talking seemed to work in situations that my knives were not allowed out. "I think I am. Sit down and let me know what you have on your mind Raum…is it alright if I still call you Raum?" She then sat down on the bench and motioned for me to join her.

Well, it seemed like she was going to be a fun human like I thought. Perfect! "Of course you can still call me Raum. That is my designation while I am in this form. If you see us walking around, you can try and guess which of the big bots I am." I smirked as I answered her actual question before I went to explain my plan. "One of the goals that Cybertron has given my team is to learn as much about Earth as possible. However, I realize that we can only go so far on our own. So, I was wondering if you could act as my guide if you have time? There is so much about your planet that I would like to know about."

In return to my request, she raised one of her human optic ridges at me and stayed quiet for a click. It made me wonder what was going on in that human processor of hers. Yes, Lizzie would be a very interesting subject to study if she agreed. "Why not?" Lizzie answered finally, growing a confident smile on her face as she nodded once. "It's not like this is going to happen again if I refuse. So why not? I have free days often enough from work, and I can let you know when I am off and have time to spend." She then paused and seemed to think. "Is there any way I can give you my cell number and we can text? That way I can answer your questions if I am at work." She then handed her cell phone out to me.

Texting. If I remembered from listening to my leader talk, then that was the equivalent to our private message system. I knew that Team Orion had a way to connect human cell phones to their comm links for calls, but I was pretty sure that they hadn't devised a way to our private message systems to receive texts. Maybe they hadn't thought of it?

No matter. I dived into the human network system and, once I realized how their texting worked, I took the device from her connected her phone with my comm link before typing in my soliform name and handing it back to her. "I think that should do it. You should recognize the name. I'm the good looking one." I then winked at her.

Lizzie let out a laugh at that and held her phone up. "I'm going to take a picture. Is that alright?"

I was pretty sure that picture meant the same thing on Earth as it did on Cybertron so I nodded and said, "Make sure you get my good side." I then posed for her and she took the picture.

Once it was taken, she typed away on her phone for a click. "There, all done." Lizzie announced once she was done typing before she put away her phone. Then, she looked up at me. "Raum, do you have any questions that you want to ask? I can try and answer them the best I can."

Well, now that she mentioned it, there was a question that I was meaning to ask… "Lizzie, are there any ways of improving the dietary food item called a 'hot dog' to make it taste less plain?"

Lizzie's eyes widened slightly in surprise at that question, an observation I wanted to note, before she let out a snort like sound before laughing a bit. Once she was calmed down, she finally explained herself. "Sorry about that Raum. When I pictured what sort of questions you might ask me, since you aren't from Earth and all, I was not expecting…expecting that." She then let out a few more giggles before she answered me. "Well, there are many different varieties that you can have of the hotdog. We humans can go our whole lives and not have tried all the variations. You can add different food items to the top of the hot dog, you can get a hot dog that has different food items cooked inside of it, and you can change the type of bun…the edible holder that you probably used to eat the hot dog just to name some of the options."

Well, I was impressed. Humans could change the design of just one of their many dietary choices in so many different ways. While there were additives that could be added to energon, it was difficult to change the base structure of it. But, humans had such a wide variety of food choices that I wanted to dissect them all and find out more about them. However, first I had to find out more about Lizzie and the information she had. "Thank you for answering that. I have been curious about that since I had one earlier this solar…day." Switching to human terms for time might prove to be difficult. However, since my leader wished for us to interact with humanity and learn whatever we could, then I would work on that until I succeeded.

"No problem Raum!" Lizzie stated with a smile before she paused and stood up, seemingly excited, and took my hands in hers. "Come on Raum, if you thought the variations on hot dogs was interesting, then there's somewhere I think you might enjoy even more."

Really? Now I was curious. This Lizzie seemed like a fun human and I was relishing the fact that I had given her a way to contact my private comm. She seemed to already understand that I liked to modify and improve whatever is around me, my favorite way of doing so being by dissecting whatever the object was. The next time I was at the hot dog seller, I would have to make sure I got as many different variations as I could.

But, to this new development. "Well, lead on my fair guide. Show me what other interesting facts I can dissect." This was a lot of fun and I was now even more glad that I had decided to go for a walk instead of messing with the bots on Team Orion. While that would have been fun, I wouldn't have been able to meet this human. Learning about organics was much more fun than I thought it was going to be!

Lizzie laughed at my response and pulled me off the bench before leading me out of the park. We went down a few blocks, chatting about different things we were passing. There was one place in particular…I was pretty sure Lizzie had called it a 'roller rink', called the Flashdance that I wanted to bring the rest of the team to one of these…days. Yes, that was the right phrase. It seemed like a very interesting thing. Sliding around a floor on pede…foot coverings that had wheels. Seemed like a very interesting thing to think about.

Finally, after about twenty clicks, we arrived at a very uniquely styled building. It was long in shape and colored blue with big windows showcasing the front. "What is this place Lizzie?" I asked her as we started to walk in. She laughed and opened the door, letting me inside. There seemed to be a style of music in the air that made me want to dance.

Lizzie led me to a counter, where there were stools that were covered in red covering and the counters were a green in color. The floors were black and white checkered and the people who were in here seemed to be eating a food concoction that was melting if sitting for too long if I was to judge on the variety of concoctions that people already had.

"Hey Frankie!" Lizzie seemed to ignore my question to call out to a guy behind the counter. In turn, the man turned to her. "Care to get me my usual?"

He nodded and set down the glass he was drying before motioning to me. "What about him?"

Lizzie turned her head to me and smiled before talking to this 'Frankie' character. "Raum? He'll need to see the dessert menu in more detail."

Smirking, I nodded in agreement with her. "Yes, I tend to like to dissect what is around me to learn more about them."

The man, Frankie, nodded at that and handed me a bifold menu. "Then take a gander at this. Left side has the flavors of ice cream and the right has our toppings." He then turned and took out a tall glass and started to drop cherries into the bottom.

While I wanted to ask what he was making for Lizzie, I realized that I needed to look at the menu I was handed. So, I took a glance down. Immediately, the eyes of my soliform widened as I saw the number of flavors of this 'ice cream' available. There were over five hundred ice cream flavors alone! Then, there were at least one hundred toppings that could be placed on the ice cream or, in the case of what Lizzie was doing, under the ice cream.

Speaking about that, movement out of the corner of my eye caused me to look up as Frankie brought Lizzie's 'ice cream' to her. Though, I had to say that hers looked monstrous. It had three different flavors of ice cream in the glass on top of the cherries, with bits of fried meat, a brown dessert crumble, a tan syrup substance on the top of all that with a bumpy red fruit cluster on top of that.

"What is that Lizzie?" I asked her as she picked up the spoon from next to the ice cream.

She looked down at her ice cream experiment before explaining. "Well, there are cherries on the bottom, with one scoop each of English Toffee, Moon Mist, and French Vanilla ice cream, bacon bits, brownie crumble, butterscotch syrup, and raspberries on top."

Well, might as well start out with something my guide liked. "Can I get one of those as well?"

 **Bumblebee's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

"Bumblebee, are you alright?"

I looked at boss bot when he asked that. He and I were the only two that were in the rec room here and I had thought that he had been working at the monitor. I had wanted to think more about Fable's release form. I know that he wanted to have us sign them, that much was obvious. But, using a copy that I made of Ratchet's form, I was confused. Was it really necessary to have these many allowances to my chassis?

Of course, Ratchet thought that the form may have changed since he signed it. Odds were probably not but who knew with that lot? Outside of Sentinel, that team was really looney. But, they seemed to be good at what they were assigned to. Fable was their medic and seemed to be good from how Ratchet said Fable had taken his servo off. That would normally be painful without drugs but for Fable to be able to do it that effortlessly, then there had to be skill behind the mech. Then, Trecke had been the one to plan out their strategy when they arrived at the battle against the Decepticons the other solar. For a bot who had never fought the Decepticons like we had, Trecke had been able to read the situation and knew how to attack.

And Sentinel had been the one to pick them out. Plus, he had them train as a team, from what Ratchet told me, and that showed when they fought together. While it was obvious that Trecke wasn't the biggest fan of Fable, the two worked together almost flawlessly.

But, I wasn't sure that I was ready to sign a release for Fable yet. "Just thinking about Sentinel's team boss bot." I then glanced outside and saw that it was getting late. Hopefully, that meant that Sentinel's team was back at their base now. "Hey, boss bot?"

"Yes, Bumblebee?" Optimus responded, though it looked like he wanted to say something else.

"Can I go over and talk with Sentinel's team? I want to ask them some things. Get to know them a little." I asked Optimus. I didn't want to outright say that I was going over there to maybe sign Fable's release form, but now that I thought about it after the fact, getting to know them might be a good idea. Plus, I was the scout. This was stuff I was supposed to do.

But, boss bot was shaking his helm. "I don't think that's a good idea Bumblebee. Sentinel's team is unstable at best and, after what they did to you when they landed, I would feel uncomfortable with any of you being alone with them. I think it would be a good idea for you to wait for tomorrow when one of us can go with you."

Yeah, I figure that might be his response. I don't know how it happened, but the team's been treating me like a sparkling lately. True, I was a youngling, but I was almost an adult. But, everybot kept treating me like a sparkling. Lately, Ratchet's been the only bot on the team treating me like a member of the team.

"Sure boss bot." I answered Optimus before leaning back on the couch.

Cycles passed and soon, everybot was in recharge except me. I wasn't happy to be going against Optimus, but I wanted to talk to Sentinel's team alone so I could figure out if they were good bots. Plus, if they would, I hoped they could let me train with them. I wanted to be a better fighter and I was hoping that they could help me. Prowl avoided me and, when I brought up the idea to the others, they wouldn't. Well, Ratchet said he would once he got caught up on his reports that he had been putting off. With Sentinel's team being here, he realized that he needed to step up his game and make sure that his reports were sent in correctly. But, with the number of reports that I saw alone, it was going to take a few solars at least for him to get caught up.

So, quieter than I thought I could move, I made my way out of the base and, once I was a good distance away, I transformed before driving off toward the other Autobot base across town. It didn't take me long to get there and, once I arrived at the three-story tall building, I transformed back into my bot form before walking inside.

And stopped when I saw that Trecke, Fable, and Sentinel were already standing in front of me. "Hey little bug. What are you doing awake at this time?"

I internally flinched when Trecke addressed me like that. He still creeped me out but this was going to be worth it. "I wanted to talk to you all…alone."

"So Optimus doesn't know that you are here?" Sentinel asked me with a wary look. Seriously, what was the deal with him and boss bot? Even from what Ratchet told me, he shouldn't be this upset with Optimus over what happened on Archa 7…unless there was a lot more to the story. But, I wasn't here about that.

"Right." I answered him nervously. Honestly, even though Fable and Trecke seemed to be the psychotic ones out of Sentinel's team, Sentinel scared me more than they did. Not because he was psychotic, but because he seemed so off-putting and cold. Seriously. How could anybot want to be near him for long periods of time. They were all looking at me with weird looks so I figured it would be best to get the first order of business out of the way. "Well, one thing I wanted to do was look at that form that Fable's been having everybot else look at."

That got a reaction out of Fable and Trecke. On the tactician's side, he shook his helm and looked annoyed at Fable. On the medic's reaction, his faceplate lit up with a smirk and he dug out one of those datapads with the form on it. He didn't waste a spark-beat in moving next to me and handing me the data-pad. "That sounds perfect! I haven't been able to convince anybot on your team about the usefulness of signing this but I assure you that it will be exactly what you need." Fable spoke as I started to read.

This was a lot longer than Ratchet's was, and it had only been ten or so solars since that happened. Was I really supposed to read this all in one sitting? From the anxious look on Fable's faceplate, I was guessing that answer was a yes. So, I dove in. It wasn't like I had any other plans for the night. Once I got about halfway through the form, which didn't seem like anything too serious so far, I decided to ask my other question. Well, I wanted to but somebot else spoke first.

"So, what else brought you here?" Sentinel asked me with a studying look. He was the only one who hadn't really reacted to my decision to read Fable's release. With how he was looking at me now, I could see that he looked tense and worried about something. What the frag could he be worried about from me? "You could have gotten Fable alone at any click you wanted to look over the form. It's not hard to get him alone at all. Yet, you waited until later in Earth's night cycle to come here, against the wishes of your Prime, and when everybot in your base is most likely in recharge. You are here for more than just getting Fable's form signed. What is it?"

While Fable looked only a little less enthusiastic about my being here, I noticed that Trecke went from not really caring to being wary. I guess it was something that the two of them, since they had been together on their team the longest, had picked up. From how Ratchet was talking, Fable hadn't been on their team nearly as long and wouldn't have the same kind of automatic reaction.

But, since I was about to ask them anyways, I figured that now was the best time. "You're right. I came here tonight to ask you all something. When we were fighting the Decepticons, I noticed that you three fought a lot better than our team did. I talked to Ratchet and he said that you all train a lot. Well, I asked the members of our team to train and everybot but Ratchet pretty much told me no. Ratchet won't be able to train until he gets caught up on paperwork, and there is a lot of that. So, I wouldn't be able to get training for a while. So, I was wondering if I could train with you all,"

"No." I jumped when Sentinel interrupted me bluntly like that, a cold look in his optics. "My team and I have worked tirelessly to train the way we have and bringing a bot who is not a member of our team into that atmosphere would be disrespectful to my team and I will not do that to them. Finish looking over Fable's form, sign it if you wish, and then leave. This conversation didn't happen." He then turned with Trecke to walk away.

No! I couldn't have them turn me away too! What did I say to get him so upset? I went over what I said in my helm, as well as his response, before I realized what it was that I did. I asked to train _with_ his team. I was putting myself at their level and trying to get the benefits being on his team would give without being on his team. That wasn't right. They worked hard to train, and I shouldn't have asked my question like that. Ratchet was right. Words were important…and that was especially true with Sentinel's team.

"Wait! I'm sorry!" I called after Sentinel, who stopped at my yell. He turned back, and I could see that he was about to say something, so I had to get my apology out as quickly as I could. "I shouldn't have asked if I could train with you. I'm not a part of your team and I shouldn't have even asked like that. I guess what I really want to know is if you all would train me? Please?"

 **Sentinel's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

My optics widened in shock as I stared at the yellow and black scout of Optimus'. Trecke and I had been listening to Fable talk about his interactions with a human hospital volunteer named Lizzie Val and how he wanted us to meet her when the base's scanners sent me a private message saying that Bumblebee's signature was a mile from the base. From the little contact that our two teams had of each other, I was surprised that the young scout, though it was hard to even call him that, was coming to our base alone at this time of night. So, I had gone with Trecke and Fable to meet the young mech at the front doors.

While I had been surprised that the yellow bot wanted to sign Fable's release, I could tell that he was here for more than that and that he was stalling. His chassis was very tense and, after learning from…Pandimala…how to read a bot with a flying alt mode, reading other bots came a lot easier than it used to. I could tell that Bumblebee was nervous about something besides my team. So, I called him out on it. I had never met the young mech before my trips to Earth and I wanted to see why he was so nervous.

I had been angered when he suggested he train with my team. We put in cycles of hard training with each other each solar and that work showed. Now, that little yellow bug wanted to just jump right into that like he had earned that right? While I felt slightly bad that the little scout wanted to train and most of his own team, besides the medic, hadn't wanted to train with him, I would not be bringing my team down just because Optimus and Elita couldn't be bothered to train theirs. I had bluntly told the young bot that, after he was done with Fable, that he was to leave and that our conversation never happened. Figured he would make up some excuse to give his team. I had expected him to give up and leave, probably not even sign Fable's form after this refusal.

Now, however, I was facing a completely different situation. The young bot had realized his mistake and immediately had me stop so he could apologize and correct it. Now, I was stuck in a strange predicament. That was what the young mech was supposed to ask but this decision was not mine alone to make. Trecke, Fable, and I were a team. Training Bumblebee was a decision that we were all going to have to agree on. And since I knew how loyal Trecke and Fable were, I had to remain neutral in expression and word until I got their honest answers. Trecke and Fable would follow whatever I said, even if they were of a different opinion.

So, I looked to Trecke as he answered Bumblebee first. "Honestly my young bug love, I have no issue if our leader decides to let us help train you. If he does, then I will use all of my skills to help you train to be the best scout that you can be. However, my love, you need to know that, since I am a tactician, I do not know everything about being a scout and thus cannot teach you everything that you will need to know. Are you alright with that?"

I doubted that the young scout would object and I was proven correct when Bumblebee nodded his helm. "Yeah. That's no problem. I would just be glad to get whatever training you can give me." Of course, I barely held back a smirk at Bumblebee flinching at Trecke calling him love. Trecke hadn't done a lot of that yet around Optimus' team, and to our team. But, Bumblebee was going to have to get used to that if he really wanted to let us help him train, and if Fable agreed.

Speaking of my medic… "Fable, what about you?" I asked Fable, who seemed to be staring at Bumblebee with a studying look.

Fable didn't answer for a couple of clicks before he finally spoke. "Firstly, I won't agree if the young mech doesn't finish reading the form in front of him and signs it. As a medic, I want my subjects fulling willing to be worked on in the manner that I need to work on them." That was interesting. Fable didn't say that he would automatically agree in training Bumblebee if he signed the form but he wouldn't even consider it if Bumblebee didn't. What was he playing at? I knew how important this form was to Fable and knew why he wanted it signed. But, he wasn't so…dodgy with answering questions like the one that the yellow scout was proposing.

But, Bumblebee didn't complain and dived into the form again. "When it says that you will be removing more than just limbs, what does that mean?"

Well, it looked like the bug was reading the form. That was good. Fable's smirk twitched upwards slightly before saying, "Well, sometimes personal mods get damaged or essential parts of our chassis, t-cogs for example and your stingers for another example, that I may need to remove temporarily to have better access to the damaged areas. I may even remove these kinds of parts during regular exams to practice. You cannot complain during these if I do that…if you sign of course."

Bumblebee nodded and continued to read. After another click, he looked at Fable while motioning to the form. "Why would you need to switch my parts with that of another bot?" Well, I had to say that Bumblebee was asking appropriate questions for the form.

Fable's smirk went extremely wide for a click as he answered that one. "Besides that it is fun? Well, say we were in battle and our warrior lost a servo. It has a high chance of being too damaged to repair on the battlefield but moving the servo of, let's say, our tactician to our warrior's missing servo, we would be able to last in the battle longer and that could turn the tides." He seemed to be enjoying Bumblebee's questions and I was sure that was a good sign for the yellow scout.

That answer also seemed to make Bumblebee less nervous and he scrolled to the end. Once he was there, however, he paused and looked back to Fable. I had a feeling that this was going to be the last question. "Fable, why isn't there an expiration date on the form?" Well, not the last question that I thought he would ask but I was interested in how Bumblebee would react to the answer.

While I was expecting it, Bumblebee jumped when Fable let out a laugh before he motioned to the bug. "I'd bet the last bit of my sanity that you read the old medic's copy of the form before this." Bumblebee nodded at that, having backed a step back from Fable…not that I could blame the young mech. Until you got to know Fable, the mech was a bit intimidating. His insane processor flow didn't help detract from that intimidation at all. "The answer to that is simple." Fable continued. "If you were to be in a battle and get critically injured, and our form happened to expire the solar before, I would not be able to work on you because I will not work on any bot that has not signed a legal copy of my form."

Fable was very touchy about his form being signed, since it was the only thing that had prevented him from losing his license when his tactics were first discovered, and it was a very serious point of his work. He will not work on a bot if they don't have the form signed. We were once training with Team Athenia on the open field grounds when their medic, Red Alert, and their second in command, Brawn, had been injured. It was about two solars before we left. However, Fable would not go near them and work on them because the only ones who had signed his form on Team Athenia were Rodimus Prime and Hot Shot. After medics from Iacon got them fixed up, the rest of the team signed his form.

"Guess that makes sense." Bumblebee responded to that before he looked at the form one more time. Then, he signed the form before handing it back to Fable. Since the signing of the form had to include Bumblebee's private comm line, Fable probably sent a copy of the form, with Bumblebee's signature on it, to the young scout.

The hall then stayed quiet as Fable stared at Bumblebee. It seemed to make the young bot nervous before my medic finally spoke. "Well, from all that, I know that I would enjoy helping you train. Of course, like Trecke, I am not a scout and so I can't help with everything."

Bumblebee seemed surprised and stared at Fable with an open mouth for a second before he spoke again. "Thanks!"

However, Fable held up a servo. "Hold on. While Trecke and I said we would be willing to train you. However, if our leader says that he is not willing, then we won't be either."

The yellow bug looked nervous at that as he glanced at me. However, I wasn't paying attention to him much. I was now in a predicament. Originally, I had been wanting to refuse him. He was one of Optimus' teammates, and it should fall to my fellow Prime to train his bots to be prepared for what facing the enemy will bring them, and how to overcome them. However, both Trecke's and Fable's response to Bumblebee's request threw that thought to the side.

Now, I was looking at it in a different light. Yes, this mech was desperate to learn. Desperation could be a problem when bots wanted to get their way and I thought that would be the case when Bumblebee had answered Trecke. However, when Bumblebee was going through Fable's form, he was asking legitimate questions and seemed to accept Fable's reasoning behind his answer.

Yes, the mech was young and it was painfully obvious that he was inexperienced. However, from this interaction, the young bot was willing to listen to my team, who weren't all put together in the helm, and me, who had obviously showed my dislike of Optimus, Elita, and most of their team. Like Fable, I did respect Ratchet and I still didn't understand why such an accomplished medic would have joined Optimus' and Elita's team.

Studying the young mech in front of me, I realized that he was risking a lot to meet with me and my team and to ask this of us. I could see now that Optimus' team was close to each other socially, which wasn't a bad thing, and most seemed to agree that we should be avoided. I didn't mind, since it kept Optimus and Elita away from me more. However, if we accepted to train Bumblebee, then he would be opening himself up to many criticisms from his team. This was just as much a risk to Bumblebee than it would be to us. So, while I was probably going to agree with my teammates to train Bumblebee, I had my own conditions to ensure the security of my team. "Bumblebee, when I first heard you ask for us to train you, I was ready to refuse you. However, you seem to be willing to listen to the requests of my team and I respect that. So, I will allow my team and me to train you."

"Thank you so mu," Bumblebee started.

However, I wasn't quite done yet. "However," He stopped talking at that and looked nervous. "I have my own condition as well. While I agree that my team will help you train to become a better scout for your team, I reserve the right to stop training you at any time for any reason. Is that acceptable? Tell me now or there will be no training."

To my continued surprise, the yellow scout nodded. "Yeah. That sounds fair."

Well, this wasn't how I expected my night cycle. "Very well then. Our team has a busy schedule tomorrow and won't be able to get any training time with you in. However, the solar after that we have time to train you at sixteen hundred. Don't be late."

 **Megatron's 1** **st** **P.O.V.**

This was…interesting.

It wasn't the word I wanted to use, but there weren't many others that could describe the information that I was learning from the files that my spies on Cybertron were able to send me so far on Sentinel Prime's team. They weren't the average team, and they hadn't seen much combat from what their files said. From what these files said up to there, they shouldn't have caused me the sort of problems that they did during that last battle. They had just gained their newest member a servo-full of solars ago and that did not leave much time for the two other members of the team to get to know the third member as well as they seemed to know him on the battlefield.

However, the rest of the report explained that and it caused me to almost feel impressed by Sentinel Prime. Ever since he had gained his first member around six hundred stellar cycles ago, he had his team train at least twice a solar for a decent amount of cycles each solar. From the training logs that my spies had sent me copies of, Sentinel Prime's team trained under some of the most intense situations that the Autobot training facilities could offer them. The Prime's team pushed themselves to be stronger and more efficient than every other team that the Autobots boasted.

From what I saw, they could probably cause my plans to go astray if I wasn't careful with them. After I had gone over the reports of the team as a whole, I looked at the personal records that I was able to dig up of each member of the Prime's team, including the Prime himself. However, my contacts said that it would take a few more solars for them to retrieve the name of the Prime's team due to scans that the intelligence agencies on Cybertron had on each of their soldiers. So, that would have to remain a mystery. However, I didn't need that detail yet, and I could try and get that from the team themselves during our next confrontation.

For now, however, I picked up the file of the team's newest member and battle medic; Fable. While the mech's files always showed a tendency toward insanity ever since the mech's emergence from the Well, I noticed that the mech seemed to show this insanity more openly after the first solars of his entrance into Autobot boot camp. The mech had, however, been able to pass the Autobot medical exam and had been classified as a battle medic.

It seemed like the mech, during his training, had developed a liking for dissection and dismemberment of his patients. From the files that my spies had retrieved, this liking was highly frowned upon by the other Autobots but, due to a provision that the insane mech had added that he would not work on a bot unless they signed some sort of waver, he had never gotten into serious trouble. It was probably the only reason that the clearly insane mech still had his medical license for the Autobots.

Next, I looked at the file of the tactician. Unlike his clearly insane counterpart, this 'Trecke' seemed to not be as insane as he would like others to believe. From the files that I had access to, it seemed like, up until his first solars of boot camp, the Autobot tactician showed great intellect and promise to his future career. Many had high hopes for him to be placed on a team of high-standing.

However, like his teammate Fable, something within his first stellars of boot camp caused the mech to lose his helm and he started to proclaim his 'undying love' to almost anybot that he met. The files didn't make note as to why this change happened, it caused the young mech to slide under the Autobot radar and he was barely acknowledged in his own field.

That was until the leader of this unusual team discovered him.

I picked up the file of the Prime in question and opened it. For the first part of it, the file showed that the now Prime was the average bot on the way to make his own team. Average marks in classes that he took and just enough fighting capabilities to be given the title of Prime. Seemed like a rather lackluster beginning to the Prime that I saw on the battlefield but I assumed that the file I had might shed some light on this strange change that Sentinel Prime must have undergone to be the formidable foe he was this solar.

And that was what happened as I continued to read. Not long after the Autobot was made a Prime, something that was not on any file must have changed and the Prime started to take many courses and seemed to excel in them. From the few classes that I could see at a glance of the Prime's long list of classes, those ranged from a History of Cybertron's Mythology class to Strategy Analysis class to Inter-Galaxy Astrology class. I was sure that there was an even wider range of classes that the Prime took but those were the ones that jumped out at me from the file.

Another thing that I found strange was that, during that time, Sentinel Prime was on a temporary team with two other Primes; Elita-One Prime and Optimus Prime, the two Primes currently a part of the same team on Earth here: Team Orion. Why hadn't those two Primes gone through this same transformation? This new information told me that the mech must have been influenced by some sort of force that the other two Primes were not affected by.

However, the information that the three Primes once were on a temporary team together caused confusion as well. From the brief interactions that I had seen between the three Primes did not convey any sort of trust or respect from Sentinel Prime to the other two Primes. To be on a team, even a temporary one, usually meant that a respectful amount of trust and respect be present…like I saw with Sentinel and his own team. Something must have happened between the time that all three became Primes and this solar that caused a rift between Sentinel Prime and the other two.

So, I continued to read the report I had been given on the Prime until I stopped at a section of the Prime's file that came fifty stellar cycles after the Prime's turnaround from average Autobot to exceptional Autobot. According to the report, the temporary team of three Primes had been on a supply run to supply the planet of Vehicon with necessary supplies that the planet had asked for. Something had caused the three Primes, after their trip was done, to go off course and visited a planet that was made off-limits by the Autobot Council; Archa 7. The report didn't say what happened on the planet but did say that the Council punished the three Primes, upon their return, with a fine of two thousand credits and planetary time out for five hundred stellars. It was at this point that Sentinel Prime seemed to break ties with the other two Primes.

I needed more information on this event. This seemed to be a point where the three Primes had a large amount of tension between the three of them and I could use that to my advantage on the battlefield here on Earth.

"Shockwave," I started, causing the intelligence mech to look at me.

"Yes Lord Megatron?" Shockwave responded to me.

Waiting on a nano, I dove into the request. "I need you to contact our spies on Cybertron. There is an incident here in Sentinel's files that happened between him, Optimus Prime, and Elita-One Prime on Archa 7. Have them gather as much information as they can without raising suspicion. Something tells me that having that information will help us with our mission here on Earth."

"Yes my Lord." Shockwave answered before he continued. "My Lord, I received a report a few clicks ago from Team Chaar saying that they have detected two Autobot ships making their way toward Planet Chaar. What should I relay as your orders to them?"

What to do? While a part of me wanted to have Team Chaar keep the two ships of Autobots heading toward Planet Chaar, I knew that our forces on Chaar needed to keep gathering supplies and strength so we could go into phase two of our plan cleanly. So, while it would make phase one of our plan, here on Earth, more difficult, I needed to make sure that phase two went off. So, I knew how I had to answer. "Tell team Chaar to draw those two Autobot ships, however they can, to come here to Earth. I can't have the Autobots messing with my plans for Planet Chaar." As I said that I realized that, depending on which Autobot teams they were, they may make the phase here on Earth move by even easier. "have Team Chaar report to me when they discover what two Autobot teams we will be dealing with. Depending on which teams they are, they could even help my plans on Earth move forward even more."

"Yes my Lord." Shockwave acknowledged me before he left the room to use the communication's equipment in his own quarters. Those would allow Shockwave to contact our spies on Cybertron with more security than he would here in the communication's room.

Once Shockwave was gone, the only other bot in this room walked into the light and gave me a studying look. "Do you truly believe that the arrival of two more Autobot teams will help your plans move forward?"

I nodded my helm once to my second in command. "Yes. More than likely, the two teams that the Council has sent to Chaar have battle experience and I believe that experience will help me start to break the bonds that the Council have soldered into their processors."

Starscream nodded at that. "I see. That makes sense." Then, he hesitated and glanced toward the door to the rec room, where a few of my soldiers were now, before he returned his attention to me. "Off subject, you do remember what you promised to Biltzwing's creators…right? Last I knew, they were on Chaar with the forces that were gathering there and if they hear that a team from there are going to be coming to Earth…"

He left that to hang and I knew where he wanted me to go with that. "Then they will use whatever resources they can to come here and get a personal report about that promise. Yes, I have been keeping my audios open for any information that I can to help. But, I haven't heard anything since we found that mech stranded on Junkion two hundred stellars ago."

That was another of my projects that I wanted answers for. However, the facets of information available to me on that subject were almost non-existent…an almost impossible mission. However, Blitzwing's creators had done so much toward my war effort, as had Blitzwing himself, that I knew that I could do no less and continued to look for the information.

"They will want to hear that from you themselves." Starscream pushed the subject.

But, with how Blitzwing's creators were…he pushed it for a reason. "I know." I leaned forward, my elbow-joints on my knee-joints and my digits intertwined with each other before resting my helm against said servos. "I know."

* * *

 **Sentinel: *surprised* Well, I was not expecting that turn of events.**

 **Authoress: Of course you weren't. That's the fun I get to have.**

 **Fable: *smirks* I wish you were a child of Primus. I would love to see what makes you work.**

 **Trecke: *shakes helm* Fable that isn't something you should be saying to our lovely Authoress.**

* * *

 **AN2: And here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed the little twists and turns. While Fable seems out of character, remember that he knows he can't physically dissect Lizzie so he has to improve his game for interacting with humans. His tearing apart tendencies are not gone. Plus, I gave him a treat for his good behavior. He got Bumblebee to sign the form!**

 **Speaking of the yellow bug, it seems like he has taken a large stretch in his journey to find answers. He is going to be receiving training from Sentinel's team. I wonder how that is going to turn out? We will find that out eventually, but next chapter is going to be having Sentinel's team (of which we will find out more about) meeting this human that seems to have Fable so excited about his discovery of Earth people. I wonder how that is going to turn out?**

 **Before I end this, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that bit with Megatron there at the end. I wonder what he is planning? Why is he interested in Sentinel's team so much? How will Team Chaar's imminent arrival with the two Autobot teams in pursuit change the flow of what is going on? What will they bring in? (though I will say I don't plan on them actually showing up for a while yet) Plus, there is that bit Starscream mentioned. That promise that Megatron made to Blitzwing's creators won't play a big part in the story...*sarcasm is fun*.**

 **Well, that's all of that for now. As like last time, here are the titles of the next chapters.**

 **Chapter 5: Meeting the Apocalypse**

 **Chapter 6: Fraility of Life**

 **Chapter 7:...?**

 **Well, that's all for now. Please drop a review, even to say hi! Until next time...*tries to continue working on German language studying***


	7. Meeting the Apocalypse

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

* * *

 **Authoress: Well, I can say that I haven't scrapped this story yet.**

 **Fable: *taps pede* Authoress, you put us on hold. I don't like that.**

 **Trecke: *cries* Authoress my love! Why did you abandon us!?**

 **Authoress: *sighs* Look, I'm updating you now! See! It's been hard to focus on this story lately.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Meeting the Apocalypse

 **Fable's 1st P.O.V.**

I smirked as I let the water run over me in the washrack. The previous night cycle, I had not expected the yellow bug to be the one, out of the remaining bots on Team Orion who hadn't signed my form, to be the first one here who did so. It was honestly quite refreshing that I had been taken so off guard. With how the bug had acted when we had first arrived on this planet, and my subsequent 'attack' on the mech, I had figured he would take the longest out of the remaining bots to sign. But, sometimes life threw in an unexpected surprise or two and I was not going to complain about that.

Plus, the little bug had thrown in another unexpected surprise when he had asked us to train him. I had been a little upset with the bug at that, since at first, he had asked to train with us, but then the bug had surprised me again and had rephrased the question so he asked for us to train him. I was sure that Trecke had seen the almost immediate reaction of our dear leader and, while that would normally tell me to refuse to train the bug when we were asked separately, something felt different about this.

So, I had tested the bug in my own way. My form was highly important to me and, having the bug go through it and ask me questions he had about it, that allowed me to see what sort of character this bug had. And, from the way that the bug answered the questions, he truly did want to learn whatever we could teach him. It would just be a matter of getting him the experience. The way that the bug asked his questions and reacted to my answers was the main reason that I had agreed to train him.

Plus, what better way for me to mess with the little bug and take a few of his appendages off then to have him training here at base under us three.

Once I felt like I was washed off enough, I turned off the water and grabbed a dry towel before returning to my room. Once I was there, however, I allowed my mind to move to a different, but even more exciting topic then the one I had been thinking on before.

This was the solar that I would be introducing Lizzie to the rest of my team. I had texted Lizzie in the early hours of this morning to make sure that we were good to hang out with her and she had responded pretty quickly that she would meet us this morning when we were ready. I was sure that even Trecke would enjoy Lizzie's company and that just made me even more excited for our excursion. But, first, we were going to have to go through our morning training session. It was the way that we kept up with how we worked together and told us what improvements we needed to make. But, after that was done, we were going to be going out in our soliforms and meeting up with my human friend.

I walked out of my room and made my way to the training room that we were all in the other solar before the Decepticon attack. We had our morning training exercises to go through before we could go out and see Lizzie and that meant that I had to get there. Once I walked into the main rec room, I saw that both my leader and Trecke were there. Perfect. That meant that, once I got my cube of energon, then we would be ready to attack the training program.

"Good morning my leader, Trecke," I greeted both as I filled my cube of energon.

Trecke, like normal, sent me an annoyed look while Sentinel simply nodded before saying, "Good morning Fable. How was your recharge?"

Thankfully, I coud give a positive report to my leader. "All was well. I had the most wonderous dream about all of our enemies restrained to my dissection tables." I then took a drink of my energon.

My response was not taken kindly by Trecke. "Of course that would be a good dream for you." He then sighed and dramatically pointed to himself while saying, "My own dreams were filled with my loves surrounding me in loving embraces." I shook my helm as he let out a lusty sigh at his own imaginings. Something still seemed off to me about our tactician and I would one solar figure him out. But, until we were in less stressfull environments, I would hold back my curiosity and trust him as our leader trusted him.

Our Prime seemed to study the two of us before he sighed and said, "Calm down you two. We should get our training in for the morning if we are to meet up with Fable's new human friend."

I quickly finished my cube before nodding and following our leader to the training room. Once we were inside, our leader started the program and soon we were surrounded by two squads of Decepticon enemies. Perfect for our warmup. I took out my blades and spun them experimentally in my servos before I launched at the nearest enemy to me. This was an easy exercise for us and so, while we were fighting, I decided to bring up a topic that would concern us tomorrow. "Precious leader, how are we planning to train the yellow bug tomorrow?" I dodged a swipe from a Decepticon blade and took out that troop.

I observed our leader push back the squad leader of this group before he started to speak. "I'm not sure. From what little you reported on the other solar, and just from the way that Team Orion acts, then I feel like there are many options that we are going to be able to explore to help train the young mech."

"Another thing that we can work on," Trecke started as he took off the arm of one of his enemies, "is learning more about the mech's training past. That is an example of extremely poor training and I would like to know what pompous idiot of a bot decided that our love bug was trained enough to get out of bootcamp."

I had to agree with that. If I had been the trainer for that young mech's boot camp, I would not have allowed the mech to be graduated with such poor performance. There was only one thing that I could say that the young mech excelled at and it was his speed. However, from what I had observed the other solar before I had interjected in the fight with the Decepticons, the yellow bug relied too heavily on his speed. It was all he seemed to think that he needed. Of course, once we figured out who the blundering idiot was that passed Bumblebee from boot camp, then that might explain the fixation on his speed. "While his only saving grace is the fact that he has an extremely enhanced speed, he might be one of the fastest bots who wasn't born with a mod to have him be so. But, he relies too much on it."

Our leader nodded and took down the last enemy we were facing and, as we regrouped for the second squad wave of Decepticons, he responded. "You're right. If Optimus and Elita would bother to take the time to train with their troops, then that young bot could be a very skilled fighter."

"Many of their team could excel in what they are supposed to if they would train even half as much as we do." Trecke stated as the second squad appeared and we attacked them. "The one called Bulkhead would make an extremely capable fighter from what I found in his records, and a diverse one since he seems to have a smart processor hidden behind that thick block." He then struck out at one of the seekers that we were fighting.

My enemy tried to sweep my pedes out from under me so I jumped and kicked his helm before adding, "Yes, and even the techno-organic has shown signs of being either a tactician or a medic." I then dodged another blow before adding. "She may even be able to become a tactical medic with training. Add in her young age and she could be a master to rival the best."

Our leader took out two seekers that were near him before he even added his bit. "Even Optimus and Elita could improve with their leadership and fighting skills if they would only take the time to practice." He then blocked a blow from a tank mech before adding, "You don't need training room equipment like this to become better. But, Optimus and Elita just keep letting that team of theirs do whatever they want." He then offlined the last of the enemy before he paused. "Of course, that might be a good thing for Bumblebee since he has decided to use that freedom to garner our help."

He then shut down the program and motioned us to the washracks attached. Once we were in and the water started, Trecke decided to pick up the conversation. "My love, remember back when you first recruited me and we could almost never get into the training rooms?"

While our leader nodded at that, I was not so privileged with this information. I was new to the team, technically, and while I had learned much about before I joined, this was something new. "What do you mean Trecke?"

The intelligence mech looked at me with a studying look like usual, though the water going down his chassis was making the effect he wanted to happen not happen so much, before he answered me, "Well Fable," And as sharp when addressing me as ever too. "when we first started this team, my love was still being shunned for disobeying orders, though we know that wasn't his fault." The Archa 7 incident. "So, many of the practice centers always seemed to be full when we wanted to sign up and train. While I was upset with this at the time, our glorious leader just moved on and, thanks to a barkeeper he met in boot camp called Slapjack, we were able to use a practice ring that the lovely Slapjack kept not far from his bar. It was a good bit of one versus one training during that time. Eventually, though, the Guardians, who are friends of Slapjack's, offered to let us use their training rooms to get more experience working together. We were very grateful to the Guardians and, with that and training at Slapjack's ring still, we were able to impress other training centers and they finally let us in. But, we usually worked with the Guardians' one or at Slapjack's field."

This was interesting. I had no idea that our team had connections with the Guardians. Plus, Slapjack's place was almost up there in fame with Maccadams...and better for your reputation to go to. Maccadams was alright but too much shady dealings to go there often. When we ever returned to Cybertron, I hoped that our leader and Trecke would introduce me to the contacts that they had made for our team. "That's very interesting." I commented with an impressed tone as I dried off.

We all dried off in silence and once we were done, made our way to the main rec room. That was where we were going to leave our chassis to go and meet with Lizzie. Since the park wasn't that far of a walk from our base, then we were planning to just enjoy a walk. _"Hey Raum, this is Lizzie. I'll be at the park in about five minutes. Let me know when you are here. ~Lizzie"_

Oh good! Lizzie was already almost there and we should be there soon. But first, I had to inform Sentinel of Lizzie's message. "Precious leader," He and Trecke turned to me as I continued. "I just received a text from Lizzie. She is almost at the park. How long should I tell her we will take?"

We all transformed at that point and we all activated our soliforms. I had seen Trecke's the other solar and I knew what mine was like since I designed it, but I now took this opportunity to study our leader's soliform. His soliform was lightly tanned with eyes that were just a few shades darker than my own, stood just taller than I did, and had dark blue hair with dark orange bangs that seemed to be styled liked the rest of his hair so they were off his forehead...yes I think that was what Lizzie said humans called that part of their bodies. For his clothing, he wore white jeans that fit just right, a blue hooded shirt with an orange undershirt and a black jacket, and black tennis shoes.

In other words, he looked just casual enough to not stand out in public as a human and yet still held an air that told others that he is our leader and he should not be underestimated. "You look ravishing my love of my spark." Micha addressed our leader.

He, in turn, sighed before saying, "Well, in this soliform, I am known as Michael Lincoln." We all then walked out of the base and, once we were sure the doors were closed, we made our way to the park. As we walked, however, it seemed like our leader had more questions for me. "Raum, what more can you tell us about this Lizzie human?"

Lizzie? Well, let's see here… "She is a human woman of about twenty-two stellars old. In human terms, she has just started her adult time of existence. She actually works for the hospital she volunteers at as a receptionist. But, when she is off and she has time, she volunteers to visit the patients who don't have many visitors. She likes watching something called 'anime' though I need to do more research to find out what that is, dark chocolate candies, dogs, and she likes helping others however she can. She doesn't like mint, reality television, mice, insects, snakes, bullies, and people who do nothing to contribute to society. The last bit was quoted directly from Lizzie."

"Seems like an interesting human." Trecke smiled and seemed to become thoughtful.

Just to make him upset with me, I decided to add in some of the information that I dissected from studying Lizzie with my optics. "She is five foot nine inches tall, one hundred and sixty pounds, twenty-seven inch waistline, and a sixty centimeter bust,"

I couldn't dodge the fist that Micha threw at me before it hit the top of my head. "That's not something you should be saying about a lady, Raum!" Micha yelled at me.

A smirk grew widely on my face as I stuck my tongue out at Micha and ran ahead into the park. "Only if you catch me!" I taunted Micha before running away from my soliform teammate.

As we ran, I could hear Micha yelling at me as he chased me around the trees. This was a lot of fun! These human bodies allow more flexibility than even I was used to. I let out a laugh as I jumped against a tree to dodge Micha's grab and then used that to vault me forward. "Raum you stop right now! Michael is coming and we need to prepare to meet your human friend!"

Again, I stuck out my tongue at Micha and went to continue running. But, before I could, I felt a similarly sized mass as myself, though proportioned differently, seemingly tackle me from the side and I landed on the ground, the mass that tackled me above me. Once I looked up, I smiled widely at who was above me. "Hey Raum, saw you all having fun and I had to join in." Lizzie laughed with a smile before getting off of me and helping me up.

Once we were both on our feet, I turned and saw that Michael and Micha were standing there and waiting for me to introduce Lizzie here. So, I motioned to Micha and Michael before saying, "My friend, these are my teammates, Michael Lincoln," I of course started with our leader. He seemed to study Lizzie as he waved to her. "And Micha Forfax." I motioned to Trecke's soliform second and then I motioned to the woman next to me. "Michael, Micha; this is the friend I was telling you about; Lizzie Val!"

Lizzie looked between the two of them before stopping and staring at Michael before smiling widely and saying, "It's nice to meet the both of you!"

 **Starscream's 1st P.O.V.**

"Watch where you move that!" I yelled at Lugnut as he moved one of the final monitors into the command center of this base. Finally, we were just about complete with it and could start operations to enter stage one fully. Hopefully, the rest of stage one would go as smoothly as this set-up had been.

It was true, the Decepticon cause had suffered a number of setbacks that would always remain with us. I was not as proud as I once was and understood that I was a major factor to the downfall of our cause before. How could I not take a large amount of responsibility? I was the second in command to a leader who had, at one point and once again, fought for the equality of all Cybertronians, no matter where they came from or who they knew. A leader who would stop the caste system that all of us before could only watch and wonder when it would be over. Lord Megatron brought change.

But at the first action of a falter, at a point where we were at our lowest as a faction, I failed as second in command. Where I should have stayed steadfast to our goals and reminded Lord Megatron of them, I instead rebelled against him and, eventually, constantly sought him out to take the leadership of the Decepticons from him. There had been nothing I wasn't willing to do to take that leadership from him. I had even created clones of myself from the blank soliforms that we desperately needed to further this goal of mine, though they had been offlined by the Autobots.

In a sense, even though they now seem like a poorly constructed team, we Decepticons owed our current revival to Team Orion. It was their capture of us high command and our leader that awoke each of us to the fact that we had fallen far from our goals. Once we felt like we as Decepticons regrouped enough to work alongside each other once again like we had before, it was a simple matter to escape from the cells of Trypticon Prison.

I would say, though, that it is strange that they converted Trypticon into a prison, when it was meant for so much more. It was a creation of the city-states of Vos, Tarn, and Kaon before the golden age. When the Great War hit, however, it was forgotten by both sides until the Autobots turned it into a prison.

Of course, I digressed. A habit that I hoped to get rid of.

Back on my mental track, once we escaped, we returned here to Earth. Phase one was supposed to be simple. With our fighting returned to how we were before we fell, then Team Orion shouldn't have stood a chance. We tested this with the confrontation at the docks. Like we expected, this Team that had defeated us when we were divided, was pitiful when we were united. Each of us could take on multiple Autobots and keep an optic on each other. And we were even still shaky at working together.

But then, we were caught by surprise with the arrival of Sentinel Prime's team.

"You seem to be thinking deeply." I turned to see Lockdown walking up to me. Once the bounty hunter was close, he studied me for a nano before continuing. "Would any of those deep thoughts concern any new information on Team Chaar?"

I shook my helm in answer to his question before I responded. "No. We have not had any word from them since the past solar. We are expecting a call from them either tonight or tomorrow." It was now my turn to study the bounty hunter for a nano before I asked him a question that tied in with my own thoughts and where they had been going. "Lockdown," he seemed to focus more on me as I leaned against the stone walls of the base. "what do you think about our current situation on Earth with the Autobots at present?" Since he was a bounty hunter during the dark times of the Decepticons, I had a feeling he might have a better view on this situation than we would.

He joined me in leaning against the wall before he looked up and seemed to think. "The situation with the Autobots huh?" He then moved his gaze to stare at the floor and he seemed to deeply think before saying, "Before the reveal of the other Prime's team, I would have said that the only two bots separately we would definitely need to pay attention to would be Prowl and their new intelligence officer; Arcee. Optimus Prime and Elita-One Prime have a small chance to cause issues so they would need to be observed, but not much." Lockdown then shook his helm. "As a team, though, their teamwork is almost laughable. Before the previous solar, I would have said that phase one wouldn't take us nearly as long as we were projecting for the fighting end."

I could hear the proverbial 'but' in his vocals and so I decided to encourage this conversation. "But now?"

Lockdown looked at me from the corner of his optic as he said, "This team is different. From the files that Lord Megatron provided, they haven't been together long as three, though two of them have been for a number of stellars. However, all three of them seemed to predict each other on the battlefield and acted as a team with millions of stellar of experience instead of just a servo-full of solars like this team. Then I would be worried about what they will become with more time. They will cause us problems."

"That's what I was afraid of." I commented to Lockdown. I had seen the bots in action myself, but I was hoping that it was my remnant cautionary reactions that were having me think that they were a large threat. But, with Lockdown agreeing with my fears, then I could not deny that they were going to make phase one much more difficult.

When Lockdown pushed himself off the wall, I paid attention as he started to talk as he walked out of the room. "I have a few contacts that I think might be able to give me some more information on this new team here on Earth. I'll present my findings to Lord Megatron when I find out more." He then walked out.

That would be very helpful. As I pushed myself off the wall and made my way down the tunnels toward the main communication room we set up, I allowed myself to go into my thoughts again. We needed supplies for our plans here on Earth. Oil, building materials for repairs and other projects, and that meant that we were going to have to confront the Autobots again. Sentinel Prime's team was causing me the most worry when it came to this project.

Three Autobots who, on the outside, seemed to not have the right fittings to make a team, but managed to work off of each other and excel.

From the little action we saw of this team at the docks, the most dangerous of the trio seemed to be, surprisingly, the one that was a medic; Fable. His warped sense of his surroundings combined with his seemingly steadfast loyalty in his Prime made him dangerous. All of this added to the combat strength he seemed to possess, to keep Blitzwing of all mechs at bay by himself, was extremely worryingly. If he were to move his focus from Blitzwing, outside of Lord Megatron and maybe Lugnut, this battle medic could keep two of our troops occupied at once and, given our sparsity of troops for the click, that was a scenario that we could not allow to happen.

However, just because he was not as dangerous, that did not mean that their tactician should be taken lightly. Trecke. While this mech seemed to be trying to hide something in his past, his team seemed to not mind this and this allowed Trecke to come up with plans that his team seemed to implement flawlessly and quickly. This was shown with his reading of Megatron and creating a battle plan within a few clicks of arriving to the battle. A dangerous mech in his own right.

Finally, there was the leader himself; Sentinel Prime. While his first couple of interactions with us left little to be desired, those times he was here with the Elite Guard, he seemed a completely different mech when he was with his team. He seemed focused and followed the battle meticulously like a team leader should. At the same time, though, he was not afraid to get into the battle and follow the advice that his tactician gave him. This attitude was completely different from the almost mis-trusting mech I had seen when the Prime had been here with the Elite Guard. The addition of his other team members might account for that now.

"Starscream," I looked up and realized that I had already made my way to the communication's room. Megatron, who had spoke to me, continued from behind the table he was standing by. "we must go over a raid plan for supplies. We cannot afford to take any risks in obtaining these materials if we want phase one to be successful."

I nodded at that and moved next to Megatron before I studied the plan in front of him. While I did, though, I couldn't help but let out a sigh. "If this was just Team Orion we were dealing with, there wouldn't be a real need to be this worried about planning." I then shook my helm. "This team of three is causing this to be more difficult then we planned for."

Our leader studied me for a nano before nodding. "While that might be true, their presence here along with the Autobots that Team Chaar are luring in will help our second phase run much smoother than we had originally anticipated. We just have to persevere until then." He then went to look over the plans for the raid before he paused.

Fearing that he had become lost in his own thoughts, I decided to coax whatever had caused Megatron to pause out of him. "My Lord? Are you alright?"

He turned his gaze back to me before nodding slowly. "Yes. I just recieved a small data-packet that I was waiting for from our spies on Cybertron. They have uncovered the name of Sentinel Prime's team. It is quite the unusual team name, especially for Autobots...but then again that seems to be this team's specialty."

Really? I was curious as well. Most Autobot teams had a noble sort of background to their name but, if this team's name followed their unusual nature as Megatron suggested, then it should be an unusual name. "What?" I asked him.

A smirk seemed to come to Megatron's faceplate before he turned to me and said, "Their team name is Team Apocalypse."

 **Sentinel's 1st P.O.V.**

"Come on guys, two on one isn't fair!" Lizzie yelled out with a laugh as Micha and Raum chased her. I let a smile slip onto my face as I watched the three of them run around this barely lit room for a game Lizzie said was called 'laser tag'. I had already been killed off, thanks to Raum and Lizzie tag teaming me, and so I was watching the three of them go after each other. Plus, this was a good way to train. While I had already fallen, the other two would get valuable training against someone who wasn't a computer program or the actual enemy. They weren't used to training with lizzie and so this game seemed to be a nice addition to our regular routine. Maybe we would come back and train as a team against other teams. Lizzie had said that was an option that we could look at if we wanted to come back here anytime.

Raum seemed to have made a very good connection with this human. She took what we were in stride and that didn't seem to intimidate her in the slightest as she chased around Raum and Micha. It wasn't something that I normally saw from the humans when it came to us. From the reports from Team Orion, and from my own experiences when I was here with the Elite Guard, there were normally two different ways that humans tended to look at us up until now.

The first was that we were a danger and a menace at times when we had to fight. Our size difference was great and so they had every right to worry. One wrong step from one of us could end one of their lives.

Secondly, however, they seemed to look at us in an almost 'god' like status. Did humans really need another religion based around beings who knew that they were not really gods and had told them that? We weren't gods? Gods were beings that rarely made a mistake and were almost always in the right when it came to a decision. Cybertronians were not that. We were just another species that had our own forms of worship, that had our own problems, and who shared many things about our psychological characteristics with the humans who tried to almost worship us.

But, Lizzie seemed to be showing that there were definitely more than those two categories. While it was obvious that she did not hate us, since she was friends with Raum of all soliforms, she also seemed to understand that we were just as fallible as humans were.

A yell of despair coming from Raum had me turning to see Lizzie standing in front of him with a smirk, her laser gun pointed toward him. "I have been defeated!" Raum declared rather dramatically as I shook my head. Seriously, he would attract that much attention just because he was out.

Lizzie let out a laugh at him as she rest her gun against her shoulder before saying, "Don't worry Raum, maybe next time you," She then froze as a buzzer went off from her armor. A shot had been placed against her head, meaning she had taken a kill shot.

"Lizzie my love," Micha started as he walked from where he had been positioned toward us all. "you must watch your own back when it is a free-for-all." He then rested his gun against his own shoulder as he approached with a smile. "If you would have taken cover and had observed your own surroundings after your defeat of Raum, then you would have maybe seen me and had a chance to take me out."

She, in turn, laughed before nodding her head. "Thanks Micha, I'll remember that for next time we are here." Then, she motioned to our armor that we had loaned before saying, "We should probably return these."

That was probably a wise move. So, the three of us followed Lizzie back to the front desk and, once we returned everything that we used, the four of us made our way outside and headed back to the park. We had agreed to go there after this to relax before going to our next objective. I believe Lizzie and Raum had mentioned something about a 'roller rink' that they were planning on taking Micha and me to.

It was strange, stepping outside after being in the darker surroundings that we had been in before. It took a couple of nanos for my soliform's eyes to adjust to the change in light before I followed Lizzie down the stairs. Now that we were outside, though, I found that now was probably the best time to ask her about how she was acting around us. "Lizzie, I have a question for you and I hope that I am not going to sound blunt when I ask it." the other three paused and looked to me as I asked my question. "Why are you so calm around us? Yes, we are your size now but you know that reality is not so. How can you act like we are just three more people that interact with you?"

Lizzie's eyes widened slightly at that before she looked down. "I was wondering when you were going to ask that. I figured that it might be strange for you. Other people have even asked me that when I've met them." She then let out a light chuckle before she continued. "In answer to your question, it is simply that life is too short fo us humans for me to get hung up over differences like that. So what you are a giant metal robotic species from another planet that lives for thousands upon thousands of years? It doesn't matter what we are made of on the outside, it's how we use what is in our very souls, our very beings, to improve the world around us that is important to me." She then smiled a little bit before saying, "Where I work at, if I started to look at the world negatively, then my work would be hindered. I have to give hope to people around me there who might be hopeless. I bring that attitude with me wherever I go. That even includes Cybertronians in disguise as humans." She had her full smile back at the end of that.

She really felt like that. I could tell from the way that she answered my question and she didn't seem to hesitate in any of her resolves. Raum really did find a great human to help us learn more about Earth. I was now looking forward to the next time we got time to see Lizzie and spend time with her.

"Lizzie," Micha started to my surprise, "what do you do for your work? Raum mentioned that you volunteer for a hospital but where do you actually work at?"

That was right. Lizzie just mentioned that she couldn't' afford negativity in her job but she didn't mention what kind of job that she did. I paid more attention as she started to answer Micha. "Oh, I actually work as a receptionist at the hospital I volunteer at. Many of the patients come by and want to talk and so I can't afford to be negative when some of the ones I talk to are fighting for their lives."

Her response seemed to pique Raum's interest as he smirked before saying, "So, you work with medics huh?" She nodded before he continued. "I'd like to see human medical practices at work in person. There isn't any way you could arrange to have me visit would you?"

"Well," Lizzie started. "I think you can all stop by tomorrow if you want. But, you won't be able to stay long if you do. We can get pretty busy at times and having extra healthy bodies around would cause delays...and delays in hospitals are not a good thing."

"Sentinel, are you there?" Optimus suddenly called in over my comm line.

I held a servo to my comm and opened it with Optimus before saying, "Is something wrong?"

The other Prime seemed to hesitate, which was never a good sign with Optimus, before he resonded to that. "No, but can you meet me at the warehouse? I think we need to talk about the current atmostphere between our two teams."

Great, so he was wanting us to get along perfectly. I was not looking forward to this talk, no matter how it went. "We can be there in ten clicks Optimus." I then hung up the comm line and sighed. Something told me that this talk with Optimus about our teams was not going to go well.

"You have to go don't you?" Lizzie asked me with a knowing look.

Nodding, I motioned to the general area where the warehouse base was. "The other team leader here on Earth wants to discuss something with me about our two teams. It would probably be best if all three of us are there."

In return, the human nodded and said, "That's alright. Short notice calls happen all the time at the hospital so I'm used to it." To my surprise, she gave each of us a hug while saying, "Well, this is goodbye for now." She then stepped back before smiling and saying, "Hopefully I'll see you all tomorrow."

"I hope so as well." I responded to her with a nod and a small smile to reciprocate her own. Once she started to move off, I motioned to the others before turning off my soliform program. It felt strange, leaving the level of the humans and returning to my chassis. But, once I returned, I started my engine, as I heard the others follow my lead, before I led my team out of the base and made my way to the warehouse. While I could have let the others of my team stay with Lizzie, something about the tone in Optimus' voice told me that it might be better if I had my team as backup there.

Hopefully, they wouldn't be needed.

 **Optimus' 1st P.O.V.**

I felt nervous as I waited for Sentinel to arrive. Ever since the Archa 7 incident, he had kept true to his word and had cut all ties with Elita and me. I didn't think that Sentinel had felt so strongly about some random stranger being offlined in an accident, but he had taken the triple changer's offlining hard. While I wasn't sure if he had told his own team about what happened on Archa 7, I knew that his team seemed to hold a grudge against ours. That wouldn't do any good if we were to fight the Decepticons here on Earth as efficiently as we could. These were Megatron and his top elites that we were fighting. The Autobot faction could not afford the division between Sentinel's team and our own during a time like this.

No, I hadn't told my own team about the Archa 7 incident. Elita and I had agreed that it would just cause confusion and it was pointless information to share with them. A stranger had offlined that solar and there was nothing that we could do otherwise. True, the femme had helped us, but it was her choice to help us. I shouldn't feel guilty because of that.

The sound of engines caused me to look and I saw that Sentinel and his team had arrived, which caused most of my team to tense. It was strange that Bumblebee didn't tense much, but I didn't think much on that as I locked optics with Sentinel before motioning him over to the corner that I had isolated for the two of us to talk. The others shouldn't hear us if we kept our vocals to a whisper.

Once Sentinel was over to me, I saw that he looked tense and hesitant. He was already on guard about what I wanted to talk about. Hopefully, this wouldn't deter from making progress in this issue. "What do you think we need to talk about?" Sentinel asked as he seemed to study me.

To start my answer, I motioned to the area where both of our teams where. All of our bots had a clear dividing line between them, besides Bumblebee, who seemed to be hesitant talking to Trecke about something while Fable had his optics on me. I would talk with Bumblebee later about what he was talking to Trecke about. "Just look at them Sentinel. Our teams avoid each other for the most part and that is going to cause some tension on the battlefield that the Decepticons are sure to pick up on and use against us."

"So," Sentinel started to respond immediately, "you are saying that I should order my troops to interact positively with your team, whether they wish to or not?" He then shook his helm at that, which caused me to feel slightly upset with Sentinel, before he continued. "Optimus, I'm not going to order my troops to feel a certain way about your team or force them to interact with your team socially. We will b there to fight the Decepticons, but I will not force them to do something that they have no wish to do themselves."

From his tone, and from the interactions that his team had with my own, and the looks that Elita and I received from Fable and Trecke, I realized something. "You told them about what happened on Archa 7, didn't you?" I couldn't believe that Sentinel would have just told bots about what happened back then with how he reacted to it.

I flinched slightly when his look hardened against me. "Of course I did. They are my team and I _trust_ them. Just because you and Elita haven't bothered to inform your own team, that doesn't mean that my team needs to be kept from the truth."

"I trust my team Sentinel!" I harshly whispered to Sentinel. "I'm just not a mech who hangs the past over my helm! It's your team's fault that we aren't working together the best that we can! If you would just forget the past then we could,"

"No!" I heard Sentinel yell before Sentinel's fist met my faceplate. I flinched and staggered back as he threw another one and I barely blocked it. "How dare you ask me to forget the past after all you two did!" At that point, both of our teams were holding us back, though I didn't miss the glares that Fable and Trecke were sending me. "I will _never_ forgive you for what you have done!" Sentinel was rapidly taking intakes and I felt tense to prepare myself for Sentinel coming at me again.

But, at that point, Trecke leaned in and whispered something into Sentinel's audio. After a few clicks, Sentinel nodded and so Trecke moved away before whispering, "I'm sorry Caeser." Why was he sorry?

However, while I wanted to ask that, I was destined to find out as Sentinel looked up. "We will fight the Decepticons with you, Team Orion." He then focused his glare on Elita and me before continuing. "But, I will _never_ let the past be forgotten." His team then led him to the entrance of the base before the three of them transformed and drove off.

Once they were gone, Bumblebee looked between where they had been and me before he stared at me and asked. "Boss bot, what was that about?"

No, they wouldn't understand. But, I wasn't sure how I was going to dissuade them to not ask more questions. Thankfully for me, Elita was here to back me up. "Sentinel can't let go of the past and is being an aft about working with us. We should be fine when we fight the Decepticons though. You should all go and get some recharge." While the others looked accepting of that, though begrudgingly in a couple of cases, I was surprised to see doubt in Bumblebee's optics before he seemed to shake his helm and walk toward his room.

Once they were all gone, I let out a sigh and sat on the couch before speaking. "Sorry Elita. I thought he might listen to me this time. We need to work with his team better to fight the Decepticons but he wouldn't budge."

Elita gave me a knowing look as she sat next to me. "I know Optimus, but we can't help Sentinel. He is being stubborn. The past is in the past and we have to let it go to move on. Yes, we made mistakes back then, but nothing we do now will change that and Sentinel just can't seem to grasp that."

While most of me agreed with her, she didn't see the look in Sentinel's optics a few clicks ago. They were furious. That wasn't the kind of look one normally saw from a bot who had lost a bot they had barely known. There was something that Sentinel knew that we didn't and, with that recent confrontation behind us, I wasn't betting on getting anything out of Sentinel anytime soon.

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 **Sentinel: Well, Lizzie seems like a very interesting human. I am curious about what her involvement is going to be in all of this?**

 **Authoress: *smirks* Well, time should tell.**

 **Trecke: *confused* Is that all you have to say, my lovely Authoress?**

 **Authoress: *nods* All I can say without ruining points for later.**

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 **AN: And here is the next chapter! *crickets* Yes, I know I am extremely late in updating this, but hopefully, that will change. *darkness sends disbelieving stares* Yes I know that might not happen but I'm going to try! Anyways, this chapter was a little difficult for me to write but it brought up some points that I hope you call caught.**

 **Plus, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that we finally saw Sentinel take a figurative swing at Optimus. He is not happy about how Optimus just wants to forget about what happened to Pandimala on Archa 7. But, we also get reminded that even Elita and Optimus don't know the whole story about how hard the Archa 7 incident really hit Sentinel.**

 **Next chapter is going to have Team Apocalypse (Sentinel's team) visiting Lizzie at her job and maybe meeting a couple more humans who may be important to the story. Plus, we get to peek in at Bumblebee and how he is dealing with this tension between the two teams. Should be an interesting chapter!**

 **Well, I guess now is the time for the next chapter titles!**

 **Chapter 6: Frailty of Life**

 **Chapter 7: Decepticon Peculiarities**

 **Chapter 8: ...(Find out next time!)**

 **Now, you all know the drill. Drop a review if you want, even to say hi! Until next we meet TTYL! *Thinking about movies I am going to watch tonight***


	8. Frailty of Life

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

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 **Sentinel: Okay, so are we going to get the usual run of excuses about why this took so long?**

 **Authoress: *about to start normal run of excuses until he said that* Nope. I'm just going to say that life happens.**

 **Fable: *smirks* Haven't you used that one before?**

 **Authoress: I...*pouts* Fine. You win.**

 **Trecke: *smiles* Oh, you are still the most gorgeous Authoress here my love.**

 **Authoress: *blushes* You sure know how to flatter a girl Trecke.**

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 **Guest Review Response Section:**

 **HappyKMPr: Thank you for the review! I normally don't like TFA Sentinel either. It was actually that fact that inspired me to write this. I wanted to experience a good side of him. But, that meant that I had to find a trigger point to change his personality. I figured Archa 7 was a good point (and before it).**

 **I'll admit, Bumblebee has been hard to write for me, but I love the development that has started. You'll see in this chapter that there is definitely more to him and, while his mouth might not get him in trouble with Sentinel yet, it will eventually. His team is a more laid back team and Bumblebee is starting to feel that he needs to be more than laid back. You'll see the start of the training here, but there will be funny moments in training too. I just wanted to get some important issues out into the open first.**

 **Can't answer that question yet (if Bumblebee will learn about the Archa 7 incident) but I will say that it will be a bumpy ride no matter what.**

 **Again, thanks for the review, and hope you enjoy the update!**

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Chapter 6: Frailty of Life

 **Bumblebee's 1st P.O.V.**

I felt my servos twitch in nervousness as I looked at the information in front of me. After the almost full-on fight that Sentinel and Optimus had almost gotten into the other solar, I thought that I should wake up early and look over the Autobot database on notes from the scouting association on how to be a good scout. While their more advanced stuff was secured for scouts who were registered under them, which I was definitely not, their basic database did give me some information that would be good to know to go into training.

But, from the information that I was reading...I couldn't even call myself a scout. Not even close. There were a number of skills that a scout should have developed and they were supposed to be careful about how they moved. I was definitely not able to do that yet. Honestly, I knew that I could if I trained, thanks to a few incidents with Prowl...mainly lost bets.

But, with how Sentinel seemed to train his team, I was sure that they would be testing me to see what I could do. I didn't like being so useless. It made me start to think back to boot camp. Abyssal, my boot camp instructor, was an aft that just liked to watch us run and liked to put us down.

Flashback:

" _Come on you useless pieces of scrap!" The tall and broad mech yelled at us as we ran our practice courses. I could feel my intakes cycling as I dodged the lasers that, while harmless, would be counted against us. "I've seen bots with one leg run this better than you useless lot!"_

 _I flinched as one of the physical barriers, a fist coming out of the wall, slammed into my side and I was thrown into Ironhide. "Hang in there." He said as he moved around me and continued running._

 _Ironhide wasn't a bad mech. We were friends for the most part but, with Abyssal's training course, you were counted as weak if you stopped in his course, even to help another cadet who had fallen. So, he had to move on._

" _Bumbler!" I flinched as I realized that I hadn't gotten up fast enough. Scrap! I barely got to my knees before I felt a rough servo grab my neck cables and wrench me to my pedes. I flinched as I felt wires pinched. "If it wasn't for your speed, you would be completely useless. It wouldn't surprise me if they use you as cannon fodder to distract the Decepticons while real troops recover. You're useless!" He then roughly threw me ahead and I barely avoided falling again._

" _Yes, sir sorry sir," I responded to the big mech quickly before starting to run away. I didn't want to be near him if I could help it._

 _My speed was all I had. So, I just had to get faster. I was going to be the fastest I could be. It was all that I was good for and I had to get faster. I wanted to be an Autobot soldier. I wanted to be the best. If I had to be fast to do that, then I was going to be the fastest. I didn't want to be cannon fodder._

 _The sound of a blaster charging behind me pushed me to go faster and I yelped as I felt Abyssal's shot graze my back and hit the barrier in front of me I slid under and continued to run. "You better keep running bug, or you are going to end up offline on the battlefield!" I shivered as his words echoed in my mind, and at one word in particular._

 _Offline._

 _I didn't want to offline. I had to get faster. A flinch traveled through me as I felt the blaster mark start to hurt. But, that didn't matter. I had to move faster. As I heard more shots start to be fired from Abyssal's own blaster and the sounds of my fellow cadets screaming rise, I felt my spark start to beat erratically. I had to get faster. I didn't want to get hurt anymore. I had to get faster._

End of Flashback.

"Bumblebee are you listening to me?"

I flinched and turned to see Ratchet standing there with an impatient look. Why was he looking at me like that? "Sorry, doc. Got...distracted." I then closed down the notes that I was looking at before looking at him. "What do you need?"

He motioned back to the med bay before saying, "I want to check you over to see if you are healing alright from the other solar."

With a nod, I followed the doc until I was on one of the berths in the med bay. Once I was settled, Ratchet took out one of his scanners and started it. Since it would be weird to just sit here in silence, and since I didn't want Ratchet asking about what I was doing when he found me, I figured I would ask about something that was bothering me. "Hey Ratchet, did you realize that things between boss bot and Sentinel were that bad?"

Ratchet hesitated in his scan for a nano before he continued the scan. "Honestly, I didn't realize it was that bad. For Sentinel to launch at Optimus for suggesting, from what I gathered, to forget what happened in the past, there must have been a lot more at play."

"Do you think that it has to do with what happened on Archa 7?" I pushed on since Ratchet was answering my questions. I wanted to get as much information from Ratchet as I could before I went and got some training from Sentinel and his team.

A nod was Ratchet's quick response. "I wouldn't doubt it, Bumblebee." He then plugged the scanner into the computer and, while that downloaded, he turned back to me. "Honestly, the files on the incident don't actually say much about what happened on the planet, and the trial didn't have much on it either. I tried looking when I joined Optimus and Elita but I didn't find much." Ratchet then sighed. "But, after the fight the other solar, I don't think that Optimus, Elita, or Sentinel will be willing to tell us about what happened."

Yeah, and that was why I was hoping that Ratchet might have some better insight that he didn't share the other solar. I was hoping that he had been holding back and the fight the other solar might have convinced him to tell me any information he was hiding. But, by the sound of it, he hadn't been holding anything back the other solar. This might make training this solar awkward but I had asked them to train me and I wasn't going to back off.

A beep came from the monitor that Ratchet had my scanner plugged into. Once Ratchet took it off, I took an initiative. "So, am I free to go doc?" Ratchet nodded and so I hopped off the berth. When I got to the door, since Ratchet was our team medic, then I felt that it was a good idea to tell him. "Oh, and doc bot,"

"What?" He asked me with a hesitant look.

I flinched at his tone but continued speaking. "Just wanted to let you know that I signed Fable's form."

I turned tailpipe and bolted as I saw the look of anger in Ratchet's optics. "You what!?" Yeah, it was probably a good idea to go on patrol for a bit.

 **Ratchet's 1st P.O.V.**

That fragging slag-helmed idiot! I had shown him my form, and had given him all the warnings that signing one of those forms needed, and he had still signed it? But, as angry as I was with the idiot, this was his own choice. While Bumblebee was young, still a youngling in age technically, he was of age to make his own decisions and, in that same thought, the right to make his own mistakes.

I knew most of the team seemed to treat Bumblebee as an incapable youngling at times, even though he was about the same age as Bulkhead. It was his size with his age. As a scout-model bot, he wasn't sturdy when it came to large hits, like Bulkhead was, and wasn't as agile as Prowl was. But, his type model could use height to their advantage that most of our team did not realize. They were young, and I knew that they would see this eventually, but it would take time.

While I still planned on helping Bumblebee train when I could, I also knew that I had a lot of work to catch up on that needed to get done so I could do my part for the team. With Fable here, the psychotic mech that he was, he did remind me that there was work that I should have done that I hadn't done since joining Optimus' team. I needed to keep constant tabs on the state of my team's health, both mental and physical, and I hadn't given those kinds of exams to the team since I had joined them. So, I needed to find time to talk with Optimus and the others. Bumblebee was done, though he actually came to me. That was something new for me. Usually, I had to drag bots to get their exams.

And I had a feeling that was what I was going to have to do when it came to Optimus' and Elita's mental exams. And I had a feeling it would be more of a force to get them to the exam then I normally faced. With how interactions between the two teams had been, I had a feeling that I would have to dig information out of Optimus and Elita about whatever happened on Archa 7.

That was going to be a pain.

"Ratchet? Are you alright?" I turned and saw Arcee walk in. When I nodded toward her, because I really was, she sighed in relief. "That's good. I heard you yelling after Bumblebee and was worried. You haven't yelled like that in a while."

When I thought about it, she was right. I really hadn't been yelling like that lately so that might worry her. "No, I'm fine. I just think Bumblebee made a mistake in doing something, but that falls under patient medic confidentiality."

She nodded at that, but I could see confusion still in her optics. "Ratchet, why did Sentinel and Optimus fight like they did the other solar? I thought that you said they used to be good friends. But I didn't see that there."

I shook my head. "Something happened in the past between Sentinel, Optimus, and Elita that caused Sentinel to cut ties with the two of them. They haven't made up and, from what we saw the other solar, I don't think Sentinel is ready to make up anytime soon." And it was that answer that had me worried.

The tension between our two teams was noticeable and, with how unified the Decepticons seemed to be now, they would be able to pick up on the tension between the two teams soon...if they hadn't already. Decepticons were not idiots in general...and that was especially the group we were facing here. While the young bots on our team only knew Starscream as a backstabbing traitor that was prideful, I had heard of an almost completely different side of Starscream in my younger stellars during the fighting on Cybertron. A cunning strategist who could, at his peak, read the battle situation and make instant decisions that would, many times, cost us the battle.

If Starscream was making a return to that state of mind, then relations between our two teams needed to be fixed immediately. The next time we battled the Decepticons, I knew that they would see this weakness. And not only would they see it, but they would almost certainly use it against us.

And he wasn't the only one that I was worried about. Megatron was a fierce gladiator, coming out as a champion from the Pits of Kaon, and you didn't do that from brute strength alone. With the disarray that the Decepticons had been in when we had first challenged them, and defeated them, Megatron had been nowhere near the top of his game. However, with this seeming reunification of the Decepticons, that was another worry that we would have to face.

All-in-all, the point was that if the Decepticons now realized the dysfunctional working union between our two teams, then I had little doubt that we would be overrun and demolished.

 **Sentinel's 1st P.O.V.**

Being inside this human medical facility felt strange. Micha and I were sitting in the seats provided in the waiting area as Raum was talking with one of the receptionists who was sitting behind the desk. Nothing seemed chaotic about this place so far and, from observation, I could already tell that not everyone who worked here shared Lizzie's view on how to act while working at a hospital.

Yes, the receptionist that Raum was talking to was cheerful, but the other two looked bored like they would want to be anywhere else but here. The one female closest to us even had her feet up while the other one was painting her nails. The male, who was the one talking with Raum, seemed to be studying Micha and me nervously along with Raum. The male seemed to realize that we were different, though how different I wasn't sure. And, until I was sure, I wouldn't react one way or another. The third person, another male, seemed to be asleep at his desk.

Of course, my mood this solar was not helped by the situation that happened the previous solar. The fact that Optimus thought he could get away with that...I just couldn't. Teams were supposed to operate independently and a well-trained team should be able to work with other teams in the field without pre-preparation. When a team couldn't work independently, then they actually were the fault on the battlefield. This worry that Optimus had with our teams working together just showed me how little prepared his own team was with fighting the Decepticons.

"Really? And you've only been working here how long?" Raum seemed to really be getting into his conversation with the

I was interested in where their conversation had gone so I moved closer to hear. "Oh, I've been at the hospital here for about three months. Before this, I was in a small town called Jasper for about three years. I was lucky to be hired on but I got my paperwork approved and I have gone from small-town guy to big city man." He then let out a laugh, which Raum joined in with. "Honestly though, if it wasn't for Lizzie, I don't think I would be even still working here."

That was interesting. How did Lizzie help this other human? "How did she do that?" Trecke asked as he walked up to him, seemingly reading my processor.

The human male jumped at that and looked nervous. "Well during my first month here, there was a problem with drugs disappearing from the pharmacy. Since newbie nurses get the short end of the stick and have to check all the locks before leaving, then I was immediately suspected. There was even evidence planted that said I did it."

"Still think you did, Evan." We all turned to the female doing her nails. "It was your pass-card that they found in the cabinet that had the medicine missing. Chelsea shouldn't have gotten,"

"Finish that sentence, Julie, and I'm going to start thinking that you have something to hide." We all jumped, even the sleeping male, when Lizzie's voice suddenly said that. Lizzie walked up to us, green scrubs on before she stopped at the counter with a glare at the girl. "Evan has been completely cleared of all wrongdoing in that case. Chelsea screwed up in her attempt on a very large point and you know it." She then motioned to the nail polish. "You have two minutes to get that crap out of my sight before I write you up. This is a hospital, not a nail salon." This Julie glared at Lizzie, who did not flinch in the slightest before she let out a huff and took her nail painting supplies away.

"Sorry for sleeping Lizzie," The sleeping male yawned.

Instead of looking upset at the male, like I thought she would, Lizzie's face softened. "I know Tim. Twenty hours of classes this semester and a part-time job here? It's a lot to take in. Try to get a little more sleep when you can. Remember, my place is always open if things get too hectic at your apartment." She then held out a key, seemingly as a reminder, before she put it away and turned toward Evan, the one that was telling us the story. When he didn't speak, Lizzie sighed. "Well, go ahead with the story. I think my guests would be pretty upset if I pulled them away during your story." She smirked after she spoke that.

Cheeky human. I was starting to see why Raum hooked onto her as he did.

Evan nodded toward Lizzie before he looked to us. "Like I was saying, the evidence planted said I did it. My fingerprints were even on the outside of the cabinet. But, I had an explanation for that, since I was supposed to take inventory. But, I couldn't explain how my keycard got in there. Lizzie was one of the few that believed I didn't do it,"

"I did too." The barely awake Tim waved his hand.

"You did too, of course." Evan gave to him. "Even though Lizzie's only job here is a receptionist by title, she is actually floor leader for us non-doctor staff and holds hiring and firing ability here." I turned to look at Lizzie in surprise, as did the others. Her face was red and she seemed to be avoiding eye-contact. Was she embarrassed? Why would she be embarrassed?

Raum decided to question that very thing. "Lizzie, you are a boss here?"

Lizzie's face grew a little redder. "Well, sorta. The director is actually in charge of firing people. But, he has me keep an eye on anyone who seems to be doing something against the hospital. Plus, he has me watch the floor and act as the floor leader." She then quickly motioned to Evan. "Now, get on with the rest."

She was trying to divert attention from herself. Guess we would let her. She seemed embarrassed enough for now. "Anyways," Evan continued. "Lizzie pushed the director to have the keycard be sent to an independent lab for testing. Turns out she had good instincts on that. The only prints on the card were Lizzie's since she had handed me the key that afternoon, and Chelsea's."

"What about your prints?" Micha asked. I was curious too. Wouldn't his prints have been on his card?

But, with how this Evan was shaking his head, that must not be. "No. Unluckily for Chelsea, when I had received the card from Lizzie, I had been gloved up so I asked her to put in in my coat pocket. I never got a chance to touch the card before Chelsea took the card out." He then looked at Lizzie. "If it wasn't for Lizzie pushing the investigation to the keycard, then I would probably be behind bars right now." He then let out a laugh.

Lizzie smiled, but I found myself studying her. She was turning out to be a very interesting human the more we interacted with her. We definitely needed to have another day with her like we did the other solar. That roller rink might be a learning experience we could use and Lizzie would be the best human, that I had met so far, to help us learn.

"Okay, storytime is over," Lizzie said before looking motioning to the three of us, badges in her hands. "You three with me. There's...someone I want you all to meet."

As the three of us put on the badges from Lizzie, I noticed Evan and Tim give each other knowing looks. Just who is it that we were going to be meeting? The three of us followed Lizzie to an elevator and, once we were inside, I noticed that Lizzie used her keycard on the slot in the elevator before hitting the X button on the keypad. "Patients, who have an unknown disease?" Ruam surprised me when he asked that.

"Someone did their homework on this place," Lizzie said to Raum. "Yes, this specific floor, though, is reserved for patients who have an unknown disease that is not contagious. So, no masks needed." The elevator then stopped before the doors opened. "This way." Lizzie then led us out of the elevator and down the very unusually decorated floor. It almost felt like I was walking into a home built for humans. "There aren't many people on this floor, so we try to make it feel as comfortable as possible."

"Just how many are on this floor?" I asked her, curious about how many of these humans had non-identifiable diseases.

"One."

I was going to ask Lizzie more about this one person when I saw a reason for me not to. There, sitting in a chair facing the window, was a girl with black hair, with a lime green streak in it. She hadn't said anything since we got in here and I was curious about that. "Hello there," Raum said as he started to move forward. I could hear a medic tone in his voice that he took when he met a sick person. Oh, he would probably ask to dissect her after she waved at him, but at least he started off on the right pede.

The girl in the seat shakily stood before turning toward us. She seemed to look curious at us for a moment, and I felt a little on the spot when she seemed to stare at me longer. However, after a click, she smiled widely and waved at us. "This disease Anastasia has, it causes her to not have a voice, along with a few other issues. But, she is the most talkative person I have ever met." Anastasia then did some hand motions toward Lizzie before Lizzie nodded. "Right, introductions. Guys, this is Anastasia Elpis. She can hear just fine so you just have to speak normally to her. I'll be your translator."

"The name's Raum Corvus." Raum spoke before he smiled widely. "Do you think that I can dissect you to find out how this disease works?"

Micha immediately slapped the back of Raum's head but, instead of being scared or nervous, this Anastasia simply made some hand signals to Lizzie. What was causing me to question her reaction was the smile that she had on her face. "Anastasia says that only if the hospital gives her body up when she dies."

While Micha facepalmed, Raum smiled and ran up to the sick human. "You are now tied for my favorite human." He was hugging her as he said this. "I'll make sure to take extra good care of your body when I get it."

This time, it was Lizzie who slapped Raum's head. "Back off Raum. You'll have to fight the hospital for it."

Instead of looking down, Raum simply smiled. "Won't be too hard of a fight."

Before that could devolve anymore, Micha took over. "While Raum has shown you the worst of us, I will introduce myself. I am Micha Fairfax. It is a pleasure to meet you my love."

Anastasia smiled at him and gave a few hand signals. "She says that she is glad to meet you too. Also, she wants to know…" Lizzie had been translating as Anastasia continued to sign and, while I wasn't sure what the mute human was saying, Lizzie must not want to say it. "I am not asking him that Stasi! You can just forget it." I was curious about that but, with the almost teasing look Anastasia was giving Lizzie, something told me that it was best for me to drop the issue.

Also, I realized that it was my turn to introduce myself. "And my name is Michael Lincoln. It is nice to meet you, Anastasia." I internally flinched when her eyes focused on me. They were green. She seemed to remind me so much of how Pandimala...well, her eyes were. Both of these humans reminded me of the femme. Maybe that was why I was already finding myself attaching to both of these human females, even though I hadn't known them long.

Anastasia made a few hand signals to Lizzie at that. "Stasi says that she thinks that it is great to meet you as well. All of you. She also says that she hopes you can come by more often." Anastasia must have said something else that Lizzie didn't want to translate because her face turned red before she shook her head. "Anyways, we can't stay long, unfortunately, because Lizzie's doctor likes her to have a lot of rest. If he found out we were here for too long, he would ban me from the floor for a week."

At that, Anastasia's eyes widened and she started to shoo us away. However, before they left, Micha turned to Anastasia and fell on one knee. "Oh Anastasia, my beloved, I will return to you no matter if I must scale this building!" And there was the love proposal from Micha. I was wondering how long that was going to take.

"Come on," I said, grabbing the lover by the scruff of his collar. "We need to leave her to rest so we don't have to do that." But, before I turned away from Anastasia again, I saw that she was sitting in a different seat, laughing silently as I dragged Micha away.

When we reached the elevator, the four of us got inside before Lizzie hit access to the ground level. While I didn't say anything during that meeting, something told me that there was another reason that Lizzie had us meet Anastasia. "Lizzie, why did you have us meet Anastasia?" It seemed like Micha was on the same mind, track that I was.

Before the elevator could reach the floor we were heading to, Lizzie reached to the control panel and flipped a switch. Immediately, the elevator stopped and the light above us went out. An emergency shut-off switch. Why was she using that? "I guess I should have known you guys would pick up on that." She let out a sigh. "I love you guys, honestly. I see you as friends. But, I was around during the Battle of Detroit."

She meant when Optimus' team took down Megatron. Something had to have happened during the battle that caused this meeting today. "What happened?"

Lizzie looked nervous for a moment before she spoke. "There was barely any warning. One minute I was just walking to the hospital for work, and the next there were explosions. Buildings were being destroyed left and right as that fight went on. It seemed like you Cybertronians had no idea about what was around you. I had to watch as so many people died, hurt by the debris from the battle. I know that you all fight the Decepticons, but until I met Raum in the park, I honestly had the same opinion on both Autobots and Decepticons. Neither of them bothered to look, to see who it was they were hurting. Just as long as they got there way, and claimed their victory." She then took a gasped breath. "When the fight was over, while most people were cheering for the victorious Autobots, I was with the teams who were gathering and counting the dead." Tears were falling from Lizzie's eyes at that and I felt nervous. I still wasn't good around femmes.

But, Micha had me covered as he put a servo on Lizzie's shoulder. Well, he at least reacted, unlike myself and Raum. "Lizzie, I'm sorry," Micha spoke.

To my surprise, Lizzie shook her head. "No, it wasn't your fault. I know that now. I didn't blame every Cybertronian, even while it was happening. But, I didn't have any other Cybertronians to base my thoughts on you all. I'm always ready to meet new people, but I have to admit that meeting the three of you was nerve-wracking. But, you all have shown me a better side to Cybertronians."

"Lizzie," I started, causing the slightly crying human to look at me. "How does that explain why you had us meet Anastasia?"

She seemed to pause at my question. "I felt like, given what happened...on that day, then maybe showing some of you just how frail human life is might help in fights in the future. As Anastasia shows, our own bodies can fight against us at times. This virus that Anastasia has could kill her at any moment. We just don't know. So, we can't afford your fights being careless. We, humans, know war, and know that there can be innocent casualties at times...but at the scale that fight was...that was careless. I don't want...I can't…" She then started to cry again.

Before I could think about what I was doing, I stepped up to Lizzie and pulled her close to me. Her crying, it was hurting my spark to hear it. Team Orion had really screwed up with that fight, more than what was reported, and we were seeing the results of that. Lizzie, a human who was so accepting of us when we met when, with her first experience with Cybertronians, all she had seen was the death of her own people. "Everything will be alright. I promise you," She looked at me. From next to me, I could see that Micha and Raum were nervous. "I will do everything in my power to make sure that human casualties can be prevented entirely while I am here."

When the elevator started moving again, I saw that Trecke had flipped the switch to return to ground level. I couldn't blame them. They weren't the best with femmes either. They were even worse than me when it came to dealing with them usually. Fable scared them and Trecke made them jealous.

Once the elevator reached the main floor, Lizzie let me go and backed up, still with red eyes and some unshed tears. However, she was smiling again and that was good...I think. "Thank you, Michael," Lizzie said, wiping away the remaining tears. We all handed her our visitor badges before stepping out of the open doors. "I'll see you all later?"

"You can count on it Lizzie baby," Raum said with a wink.

She nodded toward us before shutting the elevator door. She must have some work to do. "So, my love, my caesar," Micha started, "not that I don't love doing this, but we did promise my love bug that we would train him today."

I sighed as I was reminded of this. We did give our word to the yellow mini-bot and we would keep our word. "Come on," I said as I motioned them outside. The alley next to the hospital would be a decent place to release our soliforms. As the three of us walked there, however, I thought back to both of the human femmes we were now friends with. I had to make sure that I kept my promise to Lizzie. Humans shouldn't be second thoughts while we were here. This was their planet and we were the guests. Optimus' team, from how Lizzie had experienced them, had not set a good example.

I would make sure I did right.

 **Fable's 1st P.O.V.**

The bug was nervous.

To get a better feel for his skills, we were having Bumblebee run a test run that was specifically set up for scouts. We knew, given the training he did with Team Orion, that this was not going to go well. However, we were doing this to see as much as we could about where to start with the bug. His records didn't hold much about his training during boot camp, which was odd but not completely unusual, and we needed to see how we needed to work with him.

Plus, as a bonus, we were planning on asking Bumblebee about his boot camp experience once he ran through the simulator. He would be tired and less likely to hold anything back from our questions. Knowing who trained him in boot camp would allow us to see if any other bots suffered similar poor training or if it was just Bumblebee. To allow a bot with Bumblebee's lack of training to get through boot camp...it was inexcusable on so many levels and I would take great pleasure in dissecting the idiot.

Anyways, Bumblebee was standing in the training room, battle-tense and waiting for the program to begin. You could tell by the look in his optics, though, that he was extremely nervous. Of course, that nervousness could be due to a number of factors. After the display that his leader dared to cause the other solar, he should be a little hesitant. But, we don't blame the team for the actions of a bot on the team. That Prime was just lucky that we knew our precious leader was stressed by being here with them as it was.

Another factor, of course, was the fact that most of the bug's team didn't like us and made it known. They would avoid us and, outside of the rarely allowed to be seen techno-organic of the team, they would go out of the way to stay away from us. A lack of visitors at this base was a usual occurrence. That was part of how surprising it was that the bug showed up that night.

Either which way, the bug was nervous and I knew that would not reflect well on his test. We had to interact with the bug more outside of training to help him relax around us. I should schedule a casual dissection exam to help him out.

I stood next to my Prime as the training simulator started its countdown. "This should give us a basic idea on where to go with him," Sentinel commented as the countdown reached its end.

As the bug moved out of the way of the blaster, I nodded but didn't say a word. I could tell, just by how the bug was moving, that he had done some research before coming here. We had watched past footage of the bug fighting to prepare for today and he was changing a few tactics that he used to fight before.

And that was the only positive I had.

The bug's moves were sloppy, and his awareness factor was down more than I was expecting. This run was similar to the one that was used to graduate cadets from boot camp. The fact that he was struggling like this made everything worse for my opinion of his instructor. Just knowing that Bumblebee was still alive right now was a miracle that would make me fall down and praise Primus, if I was that kind of bot.

As this training session moved forward, I noticed that Bumblebee was reacting strangely. Every time something shot at him, or something surprised him, he would get jumpier and jumpier. "Something's wrong." Trecke said. I could see that his shoulders were tense and that meant that he was extremely worried about something. Who knew that being in close quarters to my teammate so often over a short period of time would give me this insight?

But, to what he was saying, I knew that he was right. "He's breaking down." My leader said with a studying glance.

A scream coming from the training room caused all of us to jump and I looked to see Bumblebee collapsed and holding his helm in his servos. I barely heard my leader's voice, much less what he was saying, as I ran into the room and knelt down next to the bug before starting my scans. Physically, the bug was fine. But, when I did a light processor scan, his circuits were going haywire. He needed to get calm now or I would have to knock him out. Thankfully, I kept a sedative on servo just in case. Not one strong enough to knock the bug out but this would calm his systems.

I felt him flinch as I put the sedative in his lines. As he calmed down, the rest of the team came in and stood around us. Sentinel and Trecke knew that I wanted to talk to somebot first when something like this happened. Even though I hadn't been a part of the team long, we had an issue with this with Team Athenia. During one of our last training sessions together before they left, Ironhide had a breakdown similar to this. But, he wouldn't talk about why before his team left. I told him that I wanted an explanation the next time I saw him.

"I'll go faster. I'll go faster. Faster. Faster. Only good when I'm fast." Bumblebee said more to himself than us. "Must go faster. Must go faster."

"Bumblebee." The bug in my servos almost jumped as Sentinel's voice broke through his mantra. The bug looked up at my leader, and I could see the fear in his optics before Sentinel continued. "You are fine. Calm down."

Even though it took a few clicks, Bumblebee's intakes slowly calmed down. Even though I could still feel that the bug was tense, he was calm enough to talk to. "Love bug," Bumblebee's helm snapped to Trecke. "if you are ready to talk, can you tell us where your processor went during that training session?" I was sure that we all knew that this had originated from his boot camp. But, asking the bug that directly might be too risky with his current processor state. Letting Bumblebee bring it up himself would be best.

"Boot camp." The words sounded like it was cursed by Unicron. "Faster, I have,"

"Calm down bug." I calmed the bug as I felt him start to panic again.

Bumblebee took a few more intakes before he nodded, probably letting me know that he was calm again. "Bumblebee," The bug looked up at Sentinel. I could see fear in the bugs optics. "who was your boot camp instructor?"

At first, Bumblebee was quiet. For a few clicks, we all waiting in silence for the bug to speak. From what I saw of the bug's optics, he was debating. His chassis was tense since I was still lightly restraining him just in case he started to breakdown again. What was he thinking about? Were the memories from his experience in boot camp really this bad that he wouldn't even tell us the instructor's name?

After what seemed like a million stellars, I felt some tension leave Bumblebee before he spoke. "Abyssal." I could barely make out the name when he spoke the first time. It was not one that I was familiar with. When my leader and Trecke looked like they hadn't heard, I was going to repeat the name when the bug spoke up a little. "Abyssal."

This time, there was a reaction from both mechs from my team. Trecke tensed and his mouth turned into a hard line. Meanwhile, my precious leader's optics narrowed slightly at the name and I could tell that he was angry as it was. I had a feeling that, once we got Bumblebee's story from him, and I put him to rest in one of the extra rooms, I would get filled in on the mech.

"Love bug," Trecke knelt down to Bumblebee's level, "tell us about boot camp. Please?"

I would give Trecke one thing; when he asked a question, he made you want to answer. While there was slight hesitation on the bug's part, one solid look into Trecke's optics was all it took for the bug to burst open the cage that he had the information in and he spilled the story to us. It was hard to control my anger at what I was hearing about this mech. To willingly injure a new cadet as he did, and to get away with this for so long, it made me sick. When I met this 'Abyssal' he would not walk away unscathed. Whether it be mentally or physically, I would tear him to pieces.

My personal preference was physical.

Once Bumblebee finished his boot camp experience to us, I gave the bug a relaxant to help him calm down before I moved him to one of the spare rooms. It was still early enough where Team Orion wouldn't be wondering where the bug was yet. That would give the bug time to recover. I would recommend, once he woke up, that he speaks to his medic about this. While the medic didn't think highly of me, and that was easy enough to see, I did look up to him as an example. Plus, Ratchet was the bug's official medic and should be aware of this mental situation in his teammate.

When the bug was settled in the room, I quietly left and shut the door before going to the rec room, where Sentinel and Trecke were waiting for me. Once I sat with them, I asked what I wanted to ask. "Who is this 'Abyssal' and when can I meet him personally?"

From the focused look Sentinel had on his faceplate, I had a feeling that my second question was not important. "You haven't heard of Abyssal?"

I shook my helm at Trecke's question. "I had enough drama in the medical field and I wasn't allowed near operating tables much. My information on gossip outside of the medical field is sorely lacking."

Finally, my leader responded to my question. "Abyssal Major, who given Bumblebee's age would have not earned rank yet during his boot camp, is known for the number of bots who offline on the battlefield not long after they go through his training. Only the top two or three bots in each of his graduating classes, for the most part, survive even now. Since Abyssal has so many bots that he oversees and so many that are sent to the front lines, it was easy for some to assume that it was just because he sent so many bots from his training, which had high graduation rates, to the battlefields. But, this changes things."

Yes, it did. But, as I looked at my Prime's faceplate, I saw that there was something else going through his processor. "My precious leader, what else is your processor processing?"

He looked between Trecke and me for a few nanos before he let out a vent. "Before the incident on Archa 7," So, back when he was in contact with our second member, Pandimala. "his name was one of the ones that I considered for joining our team."

"I am glad that you didn't bring him in my dearest," Trecke started. "However, what caused you to not choose him?"

I had a feeling about what it could be. From the stories our leader told us about many of his choices before the incident, there was always one major factor that helped him. "When I told her about Abyssal, she suggested that I not bring him on." That was what I thought. Pandimala, from the stories Sentinel told us, had a special ability to spot a bad bot from just a little information.

"Did she say what was wrong with him?" Trecke asked.

To my dismay, Sentinel shook his helm. "No, but when I gave her the information I had on the mech, she was very adamant that I not have him on the team. She couldn't explain it to me, but she said that there was something dark about Abyssal."

I shook my helm but didn't speak. This Abyssal was a bot that I wanted on my table, and in as much pain as possible. Between the bug's testimony, our leader's information, and the fact that he made the official second member of our team...the one that I would never be able to meet, nervous was enough for me to strap him down and give him a painful offlining. He was the kind of Autobot that made me play with the notion of defecting before my current leader came on my scanners.

After a cycle of discussing more about Abyssal and Bumblebee's training moving forward, I went and retrieved the bug and escorted him to the warehouse base. While I did, I informed him that our next training session would be the next solar and I also suggested that he have a spark to spark with Ratchet about what he told us about his boot camp. His kind of mental breakdown could affect the team in battles and the medic of the team needed to be aware of the issue.

While that last part needed convincing from me, the bug reluctantly agreed to tell Ratchet once I informed the bug that the conversation he would have with his medic would be confidential. He might have been worried that his team might not understand, given that he was the only one from his team who went through Abyssal's boot camp. I also warned the bug, before we parted ways, that I wanted to do a full physical of him before the next training session began. He looked very nervous at that, but it was the normal nervous that bots had around me so I had simply smiled at him and told him to not be late.

As I drove back to the base, however, thoughts of everything that happened this solar went into my helm. Between the two breakdowns I was witness to, Lizzie's and Bumblebee's, I knew that life was a fragile thing and that Abyssal would learn that when I finally got my servos drenched in his energon.

* * *

 **Trecke: Well...that was quite deep and emotionally moving.**

 **Authoress: *nods* I know. But, you all need to have these instances.**

 **Sentinel: *nods* Yes, but your other story had a deep update too. Are you trying to depress everyone?**

 **Authoress: *shrugs***

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter! I know it got heavy, but it was the time for it. This chapter had some deep evaluating from the Autobots and we learn that the Battle of Detroit took a deeper toll than originally shown. Hope everything looked like crap. I decided to change a detail for later but, to do it, I had to work that change in here so it took longer to type than I thought.**

 **Next chapter we will see some Decepticon stuff. Should be fun! Plus, who knows what information will come in to play?**

 **So, here are the chapter titles for the next couple of chapters!**

 **Chapter 7: Decepticon Peculiarities**

 **Chapter 8: Diving into Humanity's Past**

 **Chapter 9: ... (Find out Next time!)**

 **So, since you all hang out here enough...I think, you know the drill. Drop a review, even to say hi! I love the reviews! They let me know how the story is going and where I might need to add some things later. Until next time, TTYL! *thinking too deeply***


	9. Decepticon Peculiarities

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox belongs to a friend.**

* * *

 **Megatron: Finally, it seems like you are finally giving my Decepticons some time with your readers.**

 **Authoress: *shrugs* Well, a good bit of it. One of the Autobots does get a little bit of enjoyment first though.**

 **Starscream: Yes, but having us the focus of this chapter after so long between updates places you in our good graces.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Decepticon Peculiarities

 **Bumblebee's 1st P.O.V.**

I shook my head as I walked through the warehouse. I had just finished a checkup with Ratchet and I was going to go and see if Sari was around and we could go on patrol. Ever since I started my training with Sentinel's team last week, I tried to go on patrol as much as I could. It wasn't that I liked patrol or anything, but Fable said that it was a good way to get used to watching your surroundings, especially if it was a place that I was used to. Since we had been here for over a stellar, I felt like I knew Detroit pretty well. So, more patrol meant more practice, and I wanted to keep showing Sentinel's team that I was serious about them training me.

When I thought about that first session that I had with them, I still felt embarrassed. I had completely broken down in front of them and I just spilled about boot camp to them. I had promised myself after I got out of boot camp that I would never tell anybot about it. I didn't think that they would believe me since they didn't during boot camp. On Cybertron, they always just passed off my complaints as boot camp nerves.

But, it was even worse when Abyssal got ahold of the fact that I tried. Not only would he punish the squad, but he would insist on a private training session with me after the squad was dismissed. Those were the worse. I was surprised that I ever even survived boot camp. It made me wish that I had Sentinel back then.

But, I had him and his team now. They were helping me to catch up on actual training and, even though it had been only a week since they started my training, I felt like I had improved leaps and bounds since that point. I knew better than to hope for a battle against the Decepticons to prove this to myself, though we had a few skirmishes with a couple of the Decepticons a few times this week, I was on crowd control for most of them so I couldn't do much. The one time I fought them, I didn't get much chance to fight like I was training before Sentinel's team arrived as backup and Optimus moved me to the back of the fight. But something would pop up in this crazy city soon to give me the…

When I turned the corner, I smiled at the opportunity the presented itself to me. Prowl, like usual, was being boring and watching one of those nature channels he liked to watch. A creature Sari showed me once called a slug was moving across the screen. He seemed to be completely focused on it.

From my lessons with Sentinel's team, I knew that I had to keep Prowl in my sights the entire time. The remote was behind Prowl on the couch. Easily in reach. I went to reach for the remote before I stopped myself. One of the lessons that I had with Trecke coming back to my processor. Never assume that anything is going to be easy.

So, I hesitated for another nano, glancing around to make sure that there was nothing I could hit and nobot that would see me before I slowly reached for the remote. I made sure I had my digit above the power button and didn't hesitate in pushing it.

When Prowl turned to glare at me, I smirked. "Come on Prowl, that stuff's going to fry your circuits if you keep watching it."

I barely saw it. The tensing of Prowl's arms and legs. It was a small detail that Fable had drilled into me during this week. So, when Prowl lunged at me, I leaned toward my right and he moved passed me.

Wait...I had dodged Prowl. I had dodged Prowl. "I did it!" I exclaimed while raising my servos in the air.

And that was the last thing that I said before I was on my backplates and Prowl was on top of me. "Not quite." He smirked before getting off of me.

Frag it! As he walked away, I sat up and shook my helm. I got too excited too quickly. Fable had warned me that I got too excited about my accomplishments too quickly. Scouts had to wait until their mission was complete before they celebrated.

Remembering a quick talk I had with Sentinel, I moved to the console and started to go into the archive that we had about the Decepticons currently on Earth. Sentinel had suggested that the best way for a bot to fight the enemy, especially if a bot was at any sort of disadvantage. Since, outside of Sari, I was the shortest Autobot on the planet. And, of course, none of the Decepticons here were anywhere near my size. Disadvantage; me. So, I was going to make sure I could have all the information that I can.

 **Megatron's 1st P.O.V.**

Team Apocalypse was becoming a problem. While I enjoyed watching the Autobots from Optimus Prime's team flounder against my Decepticons, that group under Sentinel Prime was creating more trouble than I planned for. I was wary of them after our first encounter, but the extent of their interference had pushed back the schedule for phase one.

Autobots these solars, for the most part, were one-processor drones that were drilled from early onlining that my Decepticons had only ever wanted to destroy the universe, offlining all in our paths. The Autobot leadership had even manipulated their history files to show our goals as such.

Phase 1 of the Decepticon plan was to show as many Autobots as I was able the falsehoods that the Autobot leadership preached. With the one-processor mode that most Autobots undertook then the only thing that would allow phase 1 to come to fruition would be to capture any Autobots that I could. With Team Orion, that mission would have been simple. Their lack of teamwork and ability would make it simple for my Decepticons to capture them after our initial battle. But, that was not happening now. I was not prepared for Autobots who were not under the one-processor propaganda. I hadn't prepared for this in my plans and now phase 1 was suffering. I had to factor in this team into my plans.

Now that I thought about this, I needed to learn who the two Autobot teams that were currently in pursuit of Team Chaar were. So, I made my way to the communication room and, once there, I saw that Shockwave was seemingly going over reports. "Shockwave,"

"Yes, Megatron?" He immediately responded.

I motioned to the console he was working at. "Make contact with Team Chaar. We must know which Autobot teams are going to be brought to Earth with them. Team Apocalypse has already caused enough of a delay in phase 1 and I must be prepared for any surprises that these two teams might bring.

"Right away." Was his response before he started to contact the said team. "Team Chaar, this is Earth outpost one. Are you receiving?"

Almost without delay, Strika appeared on the other side of the communication. "Earth outpost one, we are receiving you." She then focused on me. "Megatron, how can I be of service?"

"Do you know which Autobot teams are currently following you?" I questioned her.

Strika gave a nod. "Yes. They are Team's Vulcan and Athenia. Both have stellar records in their fight against us. We are fourteen solars from your location. Are we still to bring them to Earth?"

While I had heard of Team Athenia before, this Team Vulcan was new to me...and both were causing me concern. It was well known that Team Athenia operated on a different level than most Autobot teams, much like Team Apocalypse was displaying here on Earth. However, despite the issues that having these two teams, one unknown to me, brought to Earth, the delay in phase 1 would be better than any delay in phase 2 those two Autobot teams could inflict should they reach planet Chaar.

So, my answer was clear. "Yes, guide these two Autobot teams to Earth. However, send us any information that you have on Team Vulcan and Team Athenia."

"Very well," Strika responded and seemed to motion to a bot off-screen. Then, she returned to face me. "Megatron, if I may ask, which Autobot teams are currently on Earth?"

She, of course, would need to know this information to know what she was bringing her team into. "Currently, we face the Autobot teams of Team Orion and Team Apocalypse."

"Team Apocalypse?"

She sounded familiar with the strange team. Perhaps she could give me more information about them. "Yes, is there something that you know about them?"

"I have a contact on Cybertron, an Autobot femme I became acquainted with on Nebulos who shares information from time to time. I recently had contact with her and she spoke of the team. Not a very popular team, but they do have connections. My contact would not go into what those connections were, but my contact made it sound like those contacts, and having them, placed Team Apocalypse above most others." Strika then motioned to me. "Have they shown many capabilities in combat?"

Shockwave answered her. "Team Apocalypse has already caused a setback in phase 1 for us. Did your contact have anything else to say about the team?"

"Yes." Really? "She did mention that they are an extremely close team. Closer than any other team that she has come across. They would do anything for each other."

That was certainly interesting. While Team Orion was close, from the interactions that I saw of them before, I am not sure how far that closeness would stretch among them. If what Strika's contact mentioned is true, then this new information would work well in moving phase 1 forward.

"Strika," I turned to see Starscream walk into the room, and he looked like he was on a mission. "Do you only bring your team with you?" I remembered the subject of Blitzwing's creators coming up between my second in command and myself not too long ago. He must be seeing if they came with the team.

I looked to the monitor as Strika nodded. "Yes, the mech that was discovered on Junkion insisted on coming with us, as did Blitzwing's creators." Frag, they had managed to grab a ride with the team. However, I was surprised to learn that the mech from Junkion was also with them. He had not been a Decepticon, the last I knew, and hearing that he had insisted on coming with Team Chaar to Earth raised interesting questions in my processor.

However, as much as I wanted to question Strika further on the subject, I knew that we had spent too much time on the call already and risked it being traced. "I will contact you later for a status report Strika. If you could, press your contact on Cybertron and find out as much information as you can about this Team Apocalypse."

"Of course. Until our next report." Strika stated before disconnecting the line.

Once Shockwave closed the line from our side, I glanced at Starscream and saw that he looked to be thinking deeply about something. I wanted to find out what and the best way for the two of us to discuss this, and not waste time, would be to get some training in. "I am finding myself wanting some training. Will you join me Starscream?"

The seeker seemed startled out of his thoughts when he realized I had asked him to come train with me. He nodded "Yes, that seems like a good idea given the current state of our operation." What did he mean by that? I would ask him about that later.

The two of us made our way to the training room. Once we were there, my second nodded toward me, saying that he was ready, before the two of us went to it. As we traded blows, I noticed that Starscream seemed distracted. "Something on your processor Starscream?"

Dodging one of my strikes, the seeker seemed to hesitate. "The disunity between the two Autobot teams has me curious and distracted."

"It has been on my thoughts as well."

"In all aspects, the two teams should get along. I don't have deep personality information on Sentinel Prime's team, but I have faced both teams in battle, Team Orion on several occasions. While the teamwork dynamics are staggeringly different, their similarity on being more on the outskirts of Autobot teams should bring them together. Usually, similar bots of similar positions gravitate toward each other. That is especially since the leaders of both teams, at one point in their history, were on social terms with each other."

"I agree," I responded before striking out at a spot that my second exposed. "That just affirms my belief that this event that happened between the three Primes on Earth was large enough to completely divide Sentinel Prime from the other two."

With a quick movement, I placed my second in a position that he needed to tap. Once he did, I released him and helped him up. "Have you found any more information out about that?"

Unfortunately, I had to shake my helm. "No. None of my contacts have any information about this incident between Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime, and Elita-One Prime. With any luck, one of the Decepticons coming with Team Chaar will have an idea of the situation." I then motioned to the area of the base where our rooms were. "Take a rest Starscream. Something tells me that our future battles with the Autobot will become even more heated."

 **Starscream's 1st P.O.V.**

A sigh escaped my vocals as I watched Megatron walk back to the communications room. This new team, along with news that yet another unfamiliar team was coming to Earth, was pressing Megatron. Phase 1 should have already made twice the headway that it currently had. I would not be able to just go and recharge now. With all the information that I had gained lately, I needed to make sure I kept an optic on things.

So, I made my way to the central hub. I wasn't sure who would be in there, but any help that I could gain in checking up on the situation here on Earth would make things around here less tense. It didn't take me long to arrive at the hub and I was slightly surprised to see Lockdown here. I thought he was working with Blitzwing on some project. "Lockdown."

He turned to me and both nodded toward me. "Starscream, you look worried." He then made room for me as he said that.

"We all should be worried about phase 1." I retorted as I started to pull up the battle footage from the previous solar. We were trying to isolate Optimus' team at the quarry and grab their smallest one, the bot called Bumblebee. He would be a good start to getting phase 1 in motion again. However, something had bothered me about that fight.

Lockdown, who was now looking at the footage with me, seemed to study the fight between Shockwave and Bumblebee. Shockwave had already temporarily incapacitated the yellow scout and had been closing in. "The yellow one has improved since our first encounter." Lockdown pointed out before pausing the footage. "See how he is watching Shockwave."

I studied the frozen frame for a few nanos and I now did see that Bumblebee was observing Shockwave. Resuming the footage, I continued to watch as the scout continued to evade Shockwave just long enough for Sentinel Prime's team to arrive and provide the scout with backup. As I continued to watch the two teams interact, I realized that something had changed. "Also, Bumblebee is working better with Team Apocalypse than the rest of his team seem able. No doubt they are responsible for the scout's improvement."

This wasn't good. With the scout of Team Orion growing closer to Team Apocalypse, we would have to pick another target. While the techno-organic seemed to be a simple one to grab, she was not raised with the drilling teachings against the Decepticons that the rest of Team Orion, outside of their medic, seemed to.

"Starscream," I paused the footage and looked to Lockdown. "Have you heard anything from Team Chaar yet?"

Interesting. This was the second time that the mech had asked me about the team currently on their way to Earth. "We just spoke to them about fifteen clicks ago. They are currently fourteen solars from this planet. They are bringing the mech that was found on Junkion and they are bringing Blitzwing's creators."

His shoulders visibly relaxed at that information. "Good."

"Why have you been so interested in Team Chaar's location?" Now seemed like as good a time as any to ask the mech this.

Lockdown looked back to me and studied me for a nano before answering. "A couple of reasons. Oilslick and I grew up together and we keep up on each other when we can. So, I'm always interested in what his team is doing. Secondly, and more relevant to what is going on around us, last time I was in contact with Oilslick, he mentioned hearing something about Archa 7 and a group of three Primes. Happened about the same time that the Primes from Team Orion and Sentinel Prime parted ways. I want him to get here so he can report what he knows to Megatron."

Oilslick knew something about what drove the Primes apart? Now I was as anxious as Lockdown seemed to be for Team Chaar to arrive, between who they were bringing, and the information they would bring with them, then they would help our efforts on Earth in moving forward with Phase 1.

 **Strika's 1st P.O.V.**

I let out a vent as I sent Megatron the information that we had on the two Autobot teams that were currently following us. It was strange. I had expected the Elite Guard to personally head to Chaar when Megatron and the others escaped their prison. With all of the activity that had been going on there, then she didn't doubt that the Autobot leadership might have thought that Megatron was heading there. Instead, they had sent these two teams.

Team Athenia I had fought against before in recent times. Lead by Rodimus Prime, the team functioned well as a team. The Prime's second in command for his team and his warrior, Brawn, held strength that, despite his minuscular size, challenged my Decepticons every time we came against them.

Then, there was the team's scout. Hot Shot. A bit brash and reckless at times, the mech would come into the battle with spontaneity and that was very dangerous. Thankfully, his recklessness balanced that trait out. Their medic, Red Alert, was a femme who was seemingly proficient in her field. From what I saw on the battlefield, she took no nonsense and worked as quickly and efficiently as the battle gave her time for.

The real mystery on that team came in the form of their second warrior; Ironhide. The mech was young, about the same age as the scout from Team Orion if I remembered the reports correctly on the mech. At the beginning of battles, he seemed steadfast and a hard opponent to match. But I had noticed that, as the battles between my team and theirs lasted longer and longer, the mech would become almost paranoid on the field and jump at many of the commonplace sounds that he should be used to as a warrior. Even a warrior so young. When we started to battle the team when we arrived on Earth, I would keep an optic on this mech.

Of course, then there was the team that Megatron had not heard of before and, if it wasn't for a brief battle between my team and his, then I would have only battle reports to go on. Battle reports, that marveled at the seemingly random team of the Prime of the team.

Vox Prime, the leader of Team Vulcan, was not originally supposed to lead a team from what our spies had gotten to us. He had been on a fast track to being a top intelligence agent within the CBI and a prime candidate for many high-quality teams. However, Vox Prime had changed his study courses near what was supposed to be the end of his studying at the Autobot Academy. Instead of focusing on his intelligence path, the Autobot had delved into the necessary classes needed to help him on his path to Prime. He earned his title and the right to create his team and, from the roster that I had, the mech didn't hesitate.

The first bot that the Prime recruited was the cyber ninja known as Jazz. The two had been in the Academy around the same time, from reports, and the solar after Vox became a Prime, he added his friend to the roster.

Then, there was the mech that acted both as the team's scout and their official intelligence bot; Blurr. Shockwave had mentioned, in reports about his interactions with the mech, that the mech was incredibly fast and his speed alone could change the pace of the battle if I wasn't careful. Blurr had proved Shockwave's warning in the confrontation that my team had with his.

Their medic, Balm, was a very lucky grab for the unexpected Prime. She was the last apprentice that the medic currently on Team Orion, Ratchet, ever took. Before I had seen the femme in action, I had heard that she had learned the old mech's lessons extremely well. Very few medics, including the mech himself, were supposed to be near her level...and that was even rumored to include the medics with the Decepticons. I had been skeptical of this information until that battle. Their inventor had been injured by Cyclonas and he was going to finish the femme when Balm had not only forced him into a confrontation with Jazz but had then, on the field, repaired the inventor and was able to get back into the fight.

Speaking on the inventor, that was a strange femme. Probably a little shorter than Hot Shot, the turquoise femme had the spontaneity of said scout on the battlefield with a drive that caused her to be trouble on the battlefield. She would move between fights with a hyperness to her that confused my team. The femme was not on Cybertron when she was recruited, nor was she even from there. That was unusual for any Prime. Most of them made their teams up of bots who were on Cybertron yet this Prime had gone to the Planet Vel to recruit her.

Of course, he had also recruited his final member from a different planet as well. Smokestack. The warrior of the Prime's team more than made up for the inventor's size and spontaneity. The mech was just shorter than Blackout and had a calm approach to his battles. A surprising fact given that he was from Fortice, a planet known for their ruthless battle atmosphere. Add being a grounder and being that size, the mech more than gave Blackout a challenge during that fight we had.

Both of these teams, Team Athenia and Team Vulcan, would surely cause issues with phase 1 on Earth. Add into that the fact that Team Apocalypse was currently on the planet and Megatron could use all the reinforcements that we could give him.

And, with the recent request from Megatron in my helm, a need for more information on Team Apocalypse would be wise. Making sure that my call would not be able to be traced, I typed in the comm line to the Autobot contact I had. After a few dial tones, I was worried that the femme might not pick up. However, after the fourth tone, the line was received. "Been a while femme. Caught me at a good time though. What can I do for you?"

No designations used just like usual. "It has been a while femme. What can you tell me about Team Apocalypse that you haven't told me before?"

A light laugh came from my contact. "So, they are causing problems. Not surprising given their new member. Fable is one of the only truly psychotic mechs that I have seen come out of the Autobots. Can be quite deadly on the battlefield if bots aren't careful fighting him from the practice session I got to watch of them before they left for Earth."

I heard hesitation come from her side of the line and that told me that there was something she might be holding back. Megatron needed the information if phase 1 was going to go through. "We need to know whatever you can tell us about them. Phase 1 will be able to go by smoother with your information." I had told her about phase 1, which was the reason she was giving me information in the first place.

The line remained quiet for a few more nanos before I heard a sigh from the other side. "Well, this has been more of a rumor that one of my contacts got when he went to visit the planet Vehicon. There was a bot there that was servos deep in information and he told my contact that Trecke was not the first bot that Sentinel Prime invited onto his team."

Wait, but that wasn't right… "From all other information sources, it is affirmed that the first member of Sentinel Prime's team was the strategist Trecke."

"I know, and it was why I was hesitant to tell you," My informant huffed. "But, my source trusts the contact he got the information from." I then heard a crash come from her side. "I have to let you go."

"Your boss been busy?" I teased her. She had been on an errand from her boss when I had met her.

"Yes. Cybertron's been crazy since Megatron escaped with his top lieutenants. So many different teams congregating here that I've barely had a break." Another crash was heard. "I have to get back now. Bye." She then disconnected the call.

Closing the line from my end, I let what she told me to travel through my processor. Trecke might not have been the first member to join Sentinel Prime on Team Apocalypse. Next time I contacted Megatron, I would have to inform him.

"So, this Team Apocalypse seems to be a very interesting team." I turned to see a black seeker mech standing there, his red optics studying me.

"Yes, they are causing quite a number of problems for phase 1 on Earth," I answered him. The mech before me was a supporter of the Decepticons even before I joined the cause. He and his bondmate had pretty much given their very existence to helping the Decepticon cause rise to the point where we were this solar.

He smiled in response to my answer. "Then it is a very good thing that my bondmate and I will be there to assist our leader." He then seemed to hesitate. "Speaking of which, my bondmate asked me to inquire about our estimated time of arrival on this Earth planet."

"Fourteen solars," I responded to him. "I also informed Megatron that you and your bondmate, as well as the mech from Junkion, were going to be arriving with us."

At my mention of the mech from Junkion, the mech's optics narrowed slightly. "There is something that mech is holding back. He seems familiar to me, but I can not seem to place him, and neither can my bondmate. He may be neutral, and so far seems to be cooperating, but we need to keep an optic on him. He knows more than he is letting us know." The Decepticon in front of me then paused again before his smile returned. "My thanks for informing Megatron of the presence of both myself and my bondmate aboard your ship. And my thanks for the estimated time of arrival. Have a nice solar." He then turned and made his way back down the hallway he came down.

As I watched him leave, I found myself amazed. It was almost strange to think that the mech there was the sire to Blitzwing. My mate, Lugnut, often spoke of Blitzwing's childish behavior. However, neither of his creators showed that kind of attitude. It made me wonder where the triple changer got it.

* * *

 **Strika: I still don't understand.**

 **Authoress: *confused* What?**

 **Strika: How can you have such nice creators and be such a ruthless femme at spark?**

 **Authoress: *smiles* I learned everything from the Decepticon cause.**

 **Strika: *frowns* Don't try and be cute with me Authoress.**

* * *

 **AN: And here is the next chapter! We got to have an exclusive inside peek at what the Decepticons have been up to. Seems like Sentinel's team is causing problems for phase 1, which we finally get to learn what it is! Definitely have plans. I wonder what Bumblebee's fate will be? Seems like Starscream and Lockdown have realized that the mech is improving. Will he stay the first target of phase 1?**

 **Then, we moved to Strika and her insights. Lots of gems here! We get background on both Team Athenia and Team Vulcan and her experience and information on them. Then, we got to witness a conversation between Strika and her mysterious femme contact among the Autobots. I wonder who it is? (hint if you have read my stories before you might have an idea as to who it is). Also, thanks to this contact, Strika now is wondering if Trecke truly was the first member of Team Apocalypse that Sentinel recruited or if there was another.**

 **Finally, still with Strika, we have an interaction between her and Blitzwing's sire. Just who is he, and his bondmate, and what are they going to be bringing to the fight on Earth. Then, his suspicions of the mech that was found on Junkion...the points are building!**

 **Next time, we have a bit of fun with Sentinel and his team exploring some more about the humans on the planet they are on. Plus, maybe some pressure for Optimus within Team Orion?**

 **Well, that's all for that. Here are the next chapter names!**

 **Chapter 8: Diving into Humanity (yes I changed it. I am allowed to do that XD )**

 **Chapter 9: Guardians**

 **Chapter 10:...(Find out next time! (and just for you people who actually read this, this chapter is going to have a lot of things come to head, and maybe some reveals...)**

 **So! That's all for now. I hope you all enjoyed. Drop a review to review or say hi. Until next time, TTYL! *getting over being sick***


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